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On Saturday morning, January 3rd, 2026, I was getting a manicure at a well-ventilated and clean nail salon: All Star Nails. My technician, Mike, was a calm and humble man who could give me lessons on how to focus on the present moment. As we watched each nail slowly and carefully shaped and polished, we were completely in each moment together.
The shop’s television was on, but I didn’t notice.
I was too engrossed in Mike’s detailed process, the soothing hand and neck massages, and the peaceful energy field surrounding me.
All was well. Until it wasn’t.
The voice I suddenly heard with my head down sounded annoyingly familiar. I looked up and there was our leader and his “All Star” cast of supporting characters.
The basic messages were that they invaded Venezuela, brought its corrupt dictator and his wife to New York for charges, it’s all about oil, (and not so much about drugs anymore), the United States will manage Venezuela for a while, and our leader will soon be going after Cuba, Mexico, Greenland, and more, and more, and more.
I couldn’t sleep that night, but that’s nothing new. Sleep and I have a difference of opinion about what’s important in life. In fact, ever since I was five years old, I would stay up long into the night thinking, feeling, sensing, making up stories and plays, and trying to find an ending for each one of them.
Not much has changed. I’m still writing articles, books, songs, plays, podcasts, and meditations, and I’m still wondering how to end each one.
But last night was different. My battle with insomnia felt disturbing. I wasn’t tossing and turning in my quest to end one of my creations. I like that challenge. It’s fun.
Last night, I felt less safe and less free.
Heather Cox Richardson’s YouTube video explains the deeper crisis behind the surface crisis.
The potential effects in breaking international rules, the negative result in disregarding our Constitution, the effects of not seeking approval from Congress before the invasion, and well, Heather explains it better than me.
Check out her video when you have the time.
That night, I intuitively sensed that the world had changed forever. What did I do?
>> I went back to my breath, deep breathing from my belly.
>> I visualized a world of peace because someone needs to keep imagining it.
>> I used the 5-4-3-2-1 method to anchor myself in the now. I looked around my room and I noticed:
Five things I could see.
Four I could feel.
Three I could hear.
Two I could smell.
One I could taste.
I call what I am doing, “Emotional Multi-tasking,” and it’s not only a catchy phrase that I think I made up, but it’s vital that we learn how to do it or we’ll all be like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole.
We need to dance with both the shadow and light in life, and at the same time, integrate as many of our favorite healing tools as possible.
If you’re feeling more anxious, less free, scared, angry, or numb, you’re not alone. Many of us are walking around with our nervous systems on high alert trying to live ordinary lives while something deeply unsettling is unfolding in the background.
If your sleep is disrupted, your stomach is in knots, and your mind is looping around with bad thoughts…
Pause.
Take a slow breath in through your nose and let it drop all the way down. Exhale longer than you inhale. Just breathe and be here now. This moment.
Then, go outside and put your feet on the earth. Sing, hum, create, move, chant, and pray.
Offer a listening heart to someone who needs it.
Rest.
Look up at the sky. Take a walk in nature.
Refuse to turn away from what you know is wrong and refuse to lose yourself to despair.
I’m still practicing. Still breathing. Still imagining peace. Still up at night, trying to find an ending, though in this case—maybe—it’s something we keep choosing together moment by moment.
And while we are doing that together, more than anything else…
“Keep your heart open and your eyes up towards the light of hope. It is never too late to breathe in a new purpose, mission, and dream.” ~ Cheryl Melody Baskin, Heart-Dreamer: Stepping into Life, Love, Creativity and Dreams-No Matter What
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