As the uncertain, the terrifying, the demanding closes in
We whirl into the centre, standing in the storm’s eye,
Surveying and feeling it all, whilst not being subsumed -
Yes, one day we will be swept away, but till then, we have today.
So I was hunting through Substack for the setting to change my writing goal of posting weekly because I was telling myself that ‘I’m too overwhelmed.’ And then I remembered one of two ways to face down overwhelm - DO SOMETHING. So in this instance, that means writing these words - something that could take less time and be more rewarding than trawling through help pages.
Physical action - whether the movement of fingers over keyboard or the pounding of feet on freezing February pavements - generates momentum and absorption which disperses overwhelm. Winter running - which overwhelm tells me I don’t have time for - silences my monkey mind. As I fall into rhythm, I’m dazzled by the sight of sunbeams skittering over the rippling trails of a trinity of swans riding the lake. I return home, mind and body sharpened and energised to tackle the to-do list.
A second way to handle overwhelm is STOP AND GET STILL, which appears to be the opposite of the first but is a crucial prerequisite because action proceeded by stillness has a greater, gentler clarity to it. Sometimes that means a morning meditation before the day begins, or letting all overwhelming thoughts tumble onto the page until they shape up into answers, solutions and ideas. Other times it’s a split-second refocus, a deep breath or a quick blunt STOP! to unhelpful thoughts. Three is the magic number - I calm the whirring by pruning the to-do list to the three most important things in the day - then anything else that gets done is a bonus.
Edward Lear’s fabulous Nonsense Poem The Jumblies comes to mind …
They went to sea in a Sieve, they did,
In a Sieve they went to sea:
In spite of all their friends could say,
On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day,
In a Sieve they went to sea!
And when the Sieve turned round and round,
And every one cried, ‘You’ll all be drowned!’
They called aloud, ‘Our Sieve ain’t big,
But we don’t care a button! we don’t care a fig!
In a Sieve we’ll go to sea!”
Far and few, far and few.
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a Sieve.
- Nonsense Songs and Stories by Edward Lear, published by Chancellor Press 1871
The Jumblies refuse to be overwhelmed by the doubts of their friends - they wrap their feet in ‘pinky paper’ to stop the sea rushing in their sieve and embark on amazing adventures. On their return twenty years later, those same friends are in awe of how far they’ve been and how tall they’ve grown - they throw them a feast and vow that they too will ‘go to sea in a Sieve.’
Overwhelm is a form of fear that says we are drowning, that we have too many holes in our sieve to make it. Moments of stillness and simple actions plug the holes, enabling us to go on adventures far beyond the clamours of doubt and fear.
What about you - how do you deal with overwhelm?