Just Sit With Your Face in the Sun for a Bit

Everything is bad, but don’t forget that some things are still good

Photo by A. L. on Unsplash

Life as a sensitive person is tough right now, especially if you spend a lot of time online. It can be confusing to know how to act, what to say, whether to post, and what even to feel amidst so much suffering and uncertainty in the world.

And it’s not just the undeniable severity of global events or feeling sadness for the suffering of others — it’s the way we’re asked to consume those things, all day, on multiple platforms which are not curated for tone or accuracy nor presented with context that can make hard things more understandable.

Amidst all this, the kinds of “self care” activities we normally turn to to weather personal struggles can feel empty or even solipsistic amidst a global crisis. Is going to a yoga class to decompress and unwind your anxiety the right response to watching a war unfold on the news? To be totally honest, I’m not sure.

But here’s one thing you can and should do: Sit with your face in the sun. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, spring is starting to show itself. It’s important to remember that this phenomenon is as real as the things we’re watching unfold on the news. Just a few minutes of this activity whenever you can manage it is a way to root yourself in the present moment, a way to acknowledge your physical self and space, and a small act of care that you deserve. It’s also free and takes less time than most of the other things on your to-do list.

Sitting in the sun isn’t about bypassing or ignoring everything that’s going wrong, or all the pain and suffering near and far to us. It’s not about focusing on the positive. Rather, it’s about acknowledging the “both, and” of the situation. That situation being life. Life is full of suffering, but it’s not solely comprised of that either. It’s important to face all that life presents us with, good and bad. Sitting with your face to the sun is a reminder of that.