Slippery Times, Transitions & Feeding the Machine
What a remarkable week! If you’ve spent time with me lately, you may have heard me say these times feel “slippery.” We’ve had many examples of that slipperiness feeling like a fall on the ice, a nasty surprise. Last week, we had a pleasant surprise. Uncertainty can bring good news too! It feels right to pause and say thank you.
Drops + Ripples = Waves
A wave is made up of many drops coalescing into action. We don’t know exactly how the drops of individual actions came together precisely into the ripples that grew into the wave last week, but they did. We don’t know the full picture of what visible and invisible help we had. We rarely do. The sense of accomplishment, hope, and relief feels wonderful. I’m grateful to everyone who worked so hard on our behalf.
Transitions
Now, how do we transition from one phase to the next? This applies practically and psychologically to this election cycle, especially in slippery times, and to life in general. Life is cyclical: in big existential ways, like the cycle of birth to death; in medium but impactful ways, like the phases of relationships or careers; and in consistent shorter cycles like the turning of the seasons or even day to night. In my observation of myself and others, transitions are not our strong suit.
After some great effort or momentous event is your tendency to jump right into the next thing? Or do you pause, thoughtfully easing from one phase to the next, cooling down and warming up in between? Transitions aren’t always clear-cut; our lives are complicated. Some responsibilities and events are beyond our control. However, turning our attention quickly from one thing to another without pause is sometimes a choice and a pattern.
If you are like me, inertia is a close companion. If I’m moving, I keep moving! Once I’m down, building a full head of steam again takes time. This is true for both the big and small patterns. Crank out a book, sure, but once I’m on the couch for the night…please, I’m done. Just give me cats and perhaps a small treat.
Feeding the Machine
We are machines after all—flesh, blood, mind, spirit, emotion-filled machines. We must be fed! In all dimensions, we occasionally need to be powered down. We need routine maintenance to run at our best. Sometimes none of these things are possible, and we power on, but we don’t function at our best, and eventually our systems start to break down.
What I’m getting to about this particular point in time is: how do you feed the machine that is you right now? For your sake and for all our sake. We are each a drop; together we are ripples; en masse we are waves. Not just in elections but in the greater sense of who we want to be as members of the human species, of what we do in this period, in what our lives and legacies will be.
How do you balance encouraging what your “machine” does in the world with caring for the machine to keep it running optimally to do that important work?
Of course, some things are out of our control. Some people’s basic needs are unmet, not because of personal choices but due to external circumstances. It is a privilege even to contemplate this question; scale it to your own circumstances. Rest is a need and a privilege. What are things we consider basic needs but really aren’t? Beyond the basics, what nourishes you? What do you need to run smoothly as we move through dramatic times of personal and collective transition?
We will work with this question in our circle next week. It’s also a good starting topic for one-on-one sessions if you feel inclined to get on my calendar.
Wishing you a peaceful heart and all of us a peaceful planet,
Mara
November 2026
