when no thing works
How do we move in the slipstream of these times with both urgency and patience? Norma Wong writes on this in her book When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse. There is no easy answer to this question. But as Wong and my own therapist remind me, I do know how to pendulate.
“Pendulation” in Somatic Experiencing and many other types of trauma therapy simply means shifting back and forth between different states of being. Being able to pendulate means we can feel a difficult emotion or sensation and then eventually shift into a different less activated state.
We can cry, be deeply enraged, or feel numb, all while trusting that we can eventually shift into moments of rest, care, joy or play. Building safety around the unpleasant or unbearable feeling allows the shift toward a more neutral or pleasant state to happen with more ease. Our bodies tend to overrespond to stress signals, so pendulating helps us recover our access to safety and connection while being with the hard stuff.
We may notice guilt in the process of pendulation, but that doesn’t mean we have to let it totally halt the process. We give ourself permission to shift states as an act of resilience and resistance. We cannot birth a new world without pendulation.
Where and how have you noticed pendulation happen in you? Bonus if it’s not very noticeable, just a slight 1% difference in how you feel. The practice of noticing helps us notice it more. Recently I’ve found it through:
the links listed above in “things that keep replenishing me”
in-person and long-distance-on-the-phone-friendship
dancing and singing in the streets at the Krewe de Prank Mardi Gras parade
attending the last ICE Rapid Response training I went to through Boots on the Ground Midwest
going to my neighborhood’s community coffee gathering
letting myself lay on the couch and watch 4 hours of a shitty reality show without feeling bad about it
a good piece of toast
sounds cliche, but feeling the sun on my face
watching my friend’s almost-3-yr-old son express empathy
reading Becky Chambers’ short and sweet Monk & Robot series
If you’re curious about pendulation but are unsure how to feel it in your own body, I made a guided video that can help you practice here.
Yours truly,
Katie
art by Olly Costello