Traversing the Void: A Mixed Bag of Thoughts and Feelings
Running the gauntlet between joy, fear, and everything in between
Hello~
Change is in the air…whether we like it or not.
I’m in a season.
I won’t go into it all except to say that, as long as this string of challenges continue, I will write when I am able and feel that I have something important to share with you.
This allows me to walk my talk continuing to journey with as much ease and inner peace as possible practicing self-care as I support others with theirs while not having a subconscious trying to push me to do something else.
I am called to be of service to those that I love, as well as to myself, while also being in this Substack space as feels right. My attempt is to reside in all of these spaces because you know how much I love trying to balance the seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum.
I’ve had the delight of a interesting influx of subscribers lately. If this is your first time with me, welcome.
My goal is to provide a more neutral nuanced perspective to help counterbalance the heavy negativity out there. Perspective is a magic key that can change anything with just a simple ✨mindshift✨.
To me, it’s difficult enough being human right now so my intention is to try to cultivate some ease with gentle perspective as to what I see.
As always, I welcome you to take what resonates and leave the rest because we have disparate beliefs and we’re all looking for different things. If you’re prickly, I may not be your cup of tea…or maybe I am.
Travel gently,
~Alecia
Story-at-a-glance
Navigating Uncertainty in a Chaotic World – This essay explores the overwhelming mix of contrasting emotions that so many of us feel in today’s rapidly shifting landscape, from political upheaval to corporate overreach to managing one’s personal energy.
Why Everything Feels Off (and What That Means) – From media manipulation to economic instability, it unpacks the forces shaping our daily lives, questioning who’s really pulling the strings and why so much feels beyond our control.
Reclaiming Our Power in an Unsteady Time – While the world tilts wildly, the real antidote isn’t panic—it’s finding clarity, balance, and meaningful action in our own lives to stay grounded and engaged without being consumed.
I don’t know about you, but I find that I have more mixed, uncertain, and yet sometimes joyful feelings during these times than any times that I can remember…and there have been some really challenging times recently. I have a decent amount of mileage on me so that’s saying a lot!
It's like my thoughts and feelings are being tugged in two opposing directions—one by the quiet, peaceful pull of the moon, the other by a tempestuous sea, with turbulent waves crashing unpredictably, complete with dangerous riptides that never seem to cease.
Yet, in the midst of this tension, there's a current beneath the surface—a steady, unseen flow where these forces converge, creating a space of profound transformation and growth.
It’s ALL the things.
There are so many issues whirling through the mainstream Media Gossip airwaves that span the spectrum of truth, falsities, and everything in between. Of course, some are rumors and some are fact, depending on which team or gossip channel of social and political “translators” you believe.
Alternative media doesn’t get to escape this observation either because many media channels and podcasts often copy the dramatic corrupted style of their “big brothers” hoping that will be their path to success and more eyeballs.
Unfortunately, most of us are pendulum people. When this doesn’t work, we don’t just make some small course corrections, we swing wildly to that —the extreme opposite— which gets us into trouble more than we tend to realize…and it shows in our political elections.
Where’s the balance?
I read and hear about laws being changed, potential government hacks, jobs at risk, programs ending, systems being demolished, wars and rumors of wars and all the while people are suffering. Collectively, we are being denied good clear communication, fairness, & compassion to better understand the direction of what our collective trajectory is right now to soften the constant body blows.
The lack of conscious sensibilities accompanied by fearful and angry emotional outbursts send shockwaves that land like sonic booms through the screens of the most sensitive humans amongst us which is so assaulting on the mind and heart. I’ll include myself in that group.
Global instabilities and changes abound
National and global structures are being rearranged while much of the planet surfs on similar waves of change. We collectively know that things aren’t working the way they are no matter how much they say ‘our economy is good’ which is the yardstick that’s always used as a social barometer.
Fun Fact: Did you know that in 2024, across democratic nations worldwide, 80% of incumbents seeking re-election were defeated? That’s an unusually high number.
There is a global trend of defeated political incumbents as humanity seeks balance during challenging times.
So, the changes we’re bearing witness to in the U.S. aren’t just happening here. Many around the world are also desperately seeking out —and hoping for— positive change by voting extreme political pendulum swings.
We’re so predictable and easily led. Rarely does that work as the pendulum seeks equilibrium — a more centered balance — which is most likely where our most effective answers lie, but the systems won’t allow it.
U.S. voting pattern
This presidential election marked the first time since 1905 that such a widespread decrease in incumbent support was observed in the U.S.. But why?
In both 1905 and 2024, the shared issues of economic instability, geopolitical tensions, social movements, and declining trust in leadership contributed to the fall of incumbents. While the specifics differ, the underlying forces shaping voter behavior show striking similarities.
Our global money structures are being challenged by the rapid rise of digital currencies, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and cashless payments, not to mention the U.S. being restructured under the umbrella of big tech bros and billionaires.
Simultaneously, some countries are trying to move away from using the U.S. dollar as a base for oil and trade which has been in place since the 1970’s. Instead, some are interested in switching to currencies like China’s yuan or Russia’s ruble, which could shake up the global financial system even more sidelining the U.S. dollar.
Structures and systems are creaking under the strain of rapid change while the titans of technology, commerce, and politics jockey for the most powerful seats on the global stage.
Speaking of that, I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention the very weird visceral feeling — an actual shudder up my spine - I got when I saw the technocratic oligarchs and billionaires all bunched together in one place at the inauguration. It made me feel really weird and uncomfortable in a way that I had never felt before which is saying a lot because I pay attention to such things.
I have issues with each of these people and their companies in various ways, but there was something ominous I felt when I saw them ALL sitting together under the same political umbrella in this event setting.
They are competitors that supposedly have found some common ground which I would suggest are money and power. I could muse more on that, but I’m going to continue simmering with that for awhile more. Of course, many of us can probably pull apart some of the troubling strands that are obvious, but I’m not going to go into that right now.
There are so many things coming on the horizon - some good (joy), some bad (fear), and some meh (everything in between) and coming along with them, there’s going to be a lot of struggle and pain.
Will it be worth it? We shall see.
Setting the stage
Sprinkle all of those dancing feelings, confusions, and observations with life that’s not so easy to live for most of us anymore and it’s just plain stressful. It’s hard to know who the truth tellers are and who’s lying when experts can be $bought$ on both sides of any issue to tell us laypeople why we’re dead wrong and need to think a different way.
Follow the money.
Families and friendships are strained or broken in manufactured conflicts of opinions and beliefs. Add to this dead end jobs that don’t pay well, people’s personal money struggles, phone trees that don’t offer the choices that we actually need, along with digital agreements that we rarely read and don’t understand anyway while signing away rights that we’re not even aware of and the noose gets tighter and tighter.
Somehow, the average American generally seems to be on the losing side. Even a coin flip is 50/50.
Our lives now, and the majority of our interactions with businesses, are constructed like cold, mechanical, autonomous assembly lines routing us through with numbers stamped on our foreheads, each with a mindless protocol that matches the barcode we’ve been assigned with rare options offered outside of the standard model.
Corporations, bureaucracies, and systems squeeze us through predetermined guard rails and chutes for their convenience so they can continue on with the efficient extraction of our personal resources such as money, time, attention, health, and energy with little obvious access to humans which could save us hours of frustration working through automated systems or hanging on hold.
So much for “customer service”. It seems that companies don’t care as much about serving their customers any more as much as they do about extracting resources from them. Don’t have resources? You’re fairly useless then.
I often wonder if they use their own systems or maybe they have the secret code to backdoor channels saving them the frustration that the average person has to endure in a similar way to the wealthy flying in private jets bypassing the commercial airline nightmares that we’re all subjected to.
American health is at an all-time low with life expectancy ages on a downward trend. We’re dying younger as a nation and don’t even get me started about the increase in all-cause mortality rates since 2021, especially between the ages of 15-44, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
Politicians lie just to get what they want before not thinking about us until they need our money and our votes again which is always under the guise of something “better for American people“. Yeah right.
I know, it’s always been that way, but for some reason, it feels worse.
So much feels out of control and chaotic. It’s like trying to walk through deep mud with the suction keeping us trapped in place. Most of us don’t know where to turn in the shifting sandstorms and it’s hard to see clearly.
Speaking of storms, simultaneously our country is being battered by historic hurricanes, rains, firestorms, snow and ice storms, and floods. Phew! Almost feels apocalyptic.
Is Mother Nature taking a page from our American movies or is She trying to purge us?
Ever wonder what She is trying to tell us over and above the concept of climate change?
Indigenous peoples offer us up some wisdom if we’d just take heed with the intention of living with more respect with All Our Relations, but it seems that we’re more in alignment with subjugating nature working against Her than honoring Her as an equal partner and working with Her.
We forget that nature always wins.
It’s all just hard
There always seems to be some sort of windmill to tilt at. The battle never seems to end and it’s exhausting us on all fronts.
Rarely do we seem to feel comfortable enough anymore to simply let our guard down unless food, alcohol, drugs, shopping, sex, gambling, or entertainment entice and lull us down that path.
These escapes allow many to just BE for awhile without feeling so stressed because sometimes we feel like we just have to drop out for a short while to give our overstressed minds and bodies a break.
Yoga, meditation, reading, journaling, and walking would be healthier way to do it, but I, too, indulge responsibly in the vices on occasion to let loose. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Everything in balance.
So many of us feel powerless to change much of anything anymore because e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. needs changing all at the same time. Many of us feel trapped in some kind of weird funhouse mirror maze — that’s not so fun— but we can’t seem to escape while pretending that it’s OK…but it’s really not.
Random disconnected thought-that last sentence above reminded me of this song by Jelly Roll which I love. I was fortunate enough to see him in concert a few months ago. Take a break and listen for a few minutes.
Resistance to change
Sometimes we forget that we humans don’t often seek out or adapt to change very well, so we delay the process. This is like having a toothache and waiting to go to the dentist because we’re afraid which only allows more rot to set in and it hurts more in the long run.
The rot has set in and now we have to suffer the extreme pain for not taking action earlier. If we just would’ve done it when it was easier. Hindsight is 20/20.
Even minor adjustments, which I refer to as 'baby steps,' are challenging for many people. We can anticipate significant resistance to more substantial changes, especially from those who distrust the current leadership.
Whether one is full-on buoyant or sitting in deep fear and despair, these massive changes need to be implemented with more respect and compassion. There are people’s lives and livelihoods being destroyed and dismantled in the balance.
Well thought out paths and reasons need to be laid before us in simple language, not in soundbites or through talking heads translating for us, so we can collectively understand where we’re headed, how, and why, as a lot of innocent “civilian casualties” coming our way.
If these entities are going to make sweeping changes, we must demand that they keep our well-being in mind. We’re not collateral damage and we’re not a behemoth technology company that cuts out the foundations of our lives from underneath us...unless we are.
We’re not AI and should have a voice in how that technology is used instead of it being shoved down our throats, but recently, all my device updates have had it automatically embedded.
Gotta find those settings.
Convenience is killing us
Whether it’s intentional or not, our humanity is being extracted from us in exchange for money, power, and control, but it’s often sold to us as if it’s soley for our convenience. I consider this gaslighting because rarely do we end up with an actual choice and rarely are the promises kept to our benefit.
We're being compelled into adopting technologies that increasingly blur the lines between us, the truly alive humans, and machines that utilize electricity similarly to our bodies. However, this technology isn't alive or human—yet.
We're ensnared in a "Moloch" scenario—dubbed the "god of negative-sum games"—where competition has gone awry. We seem unable to extricate ourselves from the often nightmarish realities that others are crafting and imposing upon us, as we all risk collectively plunging into disaster like lemmings.
I find the concept of Moloch to be fascinating and scary at the same time. If you’ve never heard of the concept and you’d like to better understand some of the current day underpinnings of it, you may be interested in watching this video.
Our collective fracturing
Our relationships are fractured, even within our own selves. Most of us don’t know what to think or believe anymore…even those who are more consciously whole…which leaves us in a vulnerable place as we cling to anything or anyone that promises us relief, the desperation of which often leads us directly into the mouth of the lion.
Long ago, we’ve abandoned our religious and spiritual tethers, which kept order and purpose moving regularly in our lives. I’m not saying that everyone necessarily needs such things, but most of us do even when we don’t necessarily think so.
There are invisible glues that have held our societies together for generations and generations that we have often taken for granted…until they’re not there anymore.
That’s not necessarily a value judgement. I’m merely noticing that as those tethering threads have dissolved, we’ve begun to fracture and disconnect even more rapidly. Most everyone needs something to believe in.
Multitudes of generations’ long traditions have gone by the wayside that we’re no longer rooted in, many of which just can’t evolve rapidly enough to adapt to our ever-changing society.
Some of us try to be thoughtful, kind, and walk through the world in a conscious manner, trying to make a difference while trying our best to be accountable for the energy that we put out into the world.
Others of us are so angry, afraid, or broken that we lash out, unaware that the manufactured lenses through which we’re seeing the world have been distorted—like reflections in a funhouse mirror.
We see the reflections that come through our screens everywhere, and in the funhouse mirrors, that’s all we can see. We can’t see any other options except the binary.
We often don’t realize that it is a very large machine that casts a much larger shadow over the truth than what most of us can possibly imagine. It is e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. and it permeates most things that give us information.
Meanwhile our minds are trained and programmed down just a couple of simple tracks. Those who consider or see things outside of those very narrow dyadic tracks are considered fringe, cringe, crazy, or all three. We’re attacked and projected upon by both sides for not “choosing a team”.
Nuance isn’t very appreciated these days when in actuality it’s the antidote to most that ails us.
But the interesting thing is that fringe is becoming more mainstream which is a bit mind-blowing to bear witness to. When I heard my vocabulary coming out of my very traditional mother’s mouth, I knew that BIG change was starting to take place within the masses.
Look out! Watch what you wish for.
We think we want the masses to wake up, but then we realize what that means in totality. What that means is typically when masses of people wake up to realize the bill of goods that they’ve been sold and manipulated into, their first emotion is anger along with a “burn it all down” attitude. I believe that’s what we’re seeing now.
Yikes!
Maybe we should have asked more questions and read the fine print before signing that 100 page digital contract.
Grasping the reins of change
So, what are some things we can do to help balance out the push and pull that we’re all experiencing these days?
Finding Our Inner Compass – When everything feels like a chaotic mess, the best thing we can do is ground ourselves. Whether it’s through deep breaths, a quiet walk, journaling, or just stepping away from the noise reclaiming our own sense of balance. The world may be spinning, but we don’t have to spin with it.
Taking Back Our Time, Attention, and Sanity – Politicians, corporations, and media giants thrive on keeping us distracted, drained, and doom-scrolling. Let’s be more intentional about where we put our focus. Unplug, set boundaries, and don’t let them rent space in our heads for free. Our energy is ours no matter how hard they try to capture it —use it wisely.
Thinking Big, Acting Where It Matters – The world’s problems feel massive, but change doesn’t have to start with grand gestures. Supporting local businesses, having real conversations, showing up where we’re needed. Small, meaningful actions in our own communities create positive ripple effects. That’s how real change starts.
Decentralizing Our Information Diet – If we’ve been relying on the same news sources or social media algorithms for years, break out of those echo chambers. Read opposing viewpoints, follow independent thinkers, and explore perspectives outside our comfort zones. If you don’t know where to find them, say so in the comments. I’m sure our community can round up some options for you.
Be the Counterweight to the Machine – If we feel like the world is becoming colder, more automated, and less human, consider how you can counteract that. Small acts of kindness, patience, and generosity are radical in an age of division. How can you be the human touch in a world increasingly driven by algorithms and efficiency?
Final thoughts
Yes, the world feels unsteady, and yes, so much is out of our control. But that doesn’t mean we’re powerless. In the midst of the chaos, we can choose where we focus our energy, what we consume, and how we show up, as WE are responsible for the energy that we bring to the world which has a larger energetic ripple effect than we realize.
We can seek truth beyond the noise, cultivate real connections beyond the screens, and ground ourselves in something deeper than the manufactured urgency of the moment.
The systems around us may be shifting, but so are we—questioning, evolving, and, hopefully, reclaiming what it means to truly live, think, and act with intention.
Maybe that’s the real power we’ve had all along.
Community reflections
What are some small but meaningful ways you’ve reclaimed your time, attention, or sanity in a world that seems designed to drain them?
How do you personally navigate conversations with people who see the world completely differently from you? Is it possible to find common ground?
What’s one thing you used to believe with certainty that you now see differently? What changed your perspective?
Please feel free to share in the comments below.
To assist you in grounding yourself, New Moon Sisters has created a short calming meditation to help you center yourself.
As I’ve discussed, technologies are changing our worlds so quickly, I found this to be an interesting perspective on whether or not they’re actually making things “better”.
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OK, Alecia. I know what the answer is. I disclosed it 23 years ago, and I think maybe a dozen people got it. Two of them are dead now. The rest ain’t exactly spring chickens. Many more heard it, and didn’t get it. Some even reacted violently. Telling the truth is dangerous.
Anyhow, knowing the answer and doing something about it are very different things. You’d think that if more people knew, something would happen. But that’s not the way it works; that’s not the way people work. People need leadership People WANT leadership. Somebody has to do it. But there can’t be any ego involved. Ego wants power, because power is easy. Leadership isn’t easy. Real leadership—the kind people want—comes from principles, not power…which is why it has nothing to do with politics.
I don’t want to do it. But who does? That’s the problem…or part of it. Everyone wants someone else to do it. I don’t know how much of it I can do. But you address that in your post You mention a few things—all of them good things—that anyone can do. I’d bet that most folks would think that doing those things won’t accomplish much. They would be wrong.
Anyhow, whatever I can do, I can’t do it from here. Open, promiscuous disclosure, wherein those who receive it have no risk, is precisely why it failed the first time.
The thing that pegs the irony meter is that the answer is staring everyone in the face. It’s writ large all over your post and even in the embedded videos.I don’t know whether folks can’t see it, or it has occurred to them and they’ve instantly rejected it, thinking, “No…that can’t possibly be it.” What seems more likely is that it’s completely off their radar. It’s impossible to see something if you don’t look in the place where it is.
I’m going away now…for a while. Some people need me to do something that will be the hardest thing I’ve done in…well, never mind how long. Maybe ever. So, this is as good a place to pause as any, especially since you seem to be doing the same thing.
Just know that, from the very first thing of yours I read, there was a deep resonance, and this piece is no exception. I expect to survive the task that calls me now. If so, I’ll see you on the other side.
Love, Vito😎💟🙏
Courage, dear heart. ~ Aslan. Peace.