Welcome back to the Wonder in the Weeds show. If you’ve been following along, you know this space is usually about how we live, love, and grow alongside the grief and messiness of being human. But I have to be honest—I’m coming to this recording a little late because the “weeds” have felt incredibly thick lately.

I had a grand plan for this year and for this specific episode. I was going to bring my Gen Z daughter on to talk about generational divides. But life had other plans. Living just outside the Twin Cities, my community has been occupied by federal forces, and it feels strange to talk about anything else.

When you combine local crises with global news like the release of the Epstein files, the trampling of trans rights, or even just the personal stress of unexpected home repairs it is hard to know where to look. It feels like my head is constantly on a swivel, trying to decide where to focus my fear and my energy.

So, today, I want to talk about two things: How do we figure out where to focus without getting buried? And how do we find enough wonder to keep going?.

The Difference Between Crisis and the Long Haul

There is a difference between an acute crisis and a long-term fight. Right now, in Minneapolis and St. Paul, we are seeing a situation that feels like a tipping point. But what I have witnessed in response is profound.

It is like the most effective “meal train” you have ever seen.

• Shops have opened up as donation centers for diapers and food.
• Community groups are walking and driving kids to school because families are afraid to leave their homes.
• People are delivering groceries to neighbors and setting up warming centers for protesters.

This is where I am choosing to look. It is easy to doom-scroll and feel powerless. But we have to wake up every morning and decide: Where am I going to put my energy today?. You cannot do it all. You have to choose the one or two things you can manage, give your heart to them, and trust that others are taking care of the rest.

Every Day I Walk Out Into the World to Be Dazzled

To sustain this kind of work, we have to refill our cups. You cannot pour from an empty cup.

I recently pulled a card from my Mary Oliver deck that read: “Every day I walk out into the world to be dazzled”. I love that word—dazzled. It’s active. It’s a choice.

We are biologically wired to look for danger, so looking for the good requires effort. Recently, I had a trip to Arizona that was plagued by flight delays and colder-than-expected weather. I could have dwelled on everything that went wrong. Instead, I made a choice to be dazzled.+3

I was dazzled by a family of wild boars (or maybe warthogs!) we saw on a walk. I was dazzled by sitting in the sun in my bathing suit for a few minutes, soaking it up before the clouds came back.

Rest is Resistance

It felt complicated to leave my community during such a hard time. But I realized that taking three days to refuel wasn’t about escaping; it was about gathering the strength to come back. The weeds aren’t going anywhere. If we want to be effective in managing them, we have to protect our ability to find wonder.

So, my challenge to you this week is this: Acknowledge the heavy stuff. Choose where you will direct your energy. But then, step out into the world with the specific intention of being dazzled.

Keep looking for the wonder.