Hi there on Being Listeners. I'm Marie Sambole, one of the audio producers here at On

Being Studios, and I'm so excited to share something new that we've been experimenting

with. You're used to hearing Chris to ask the questions, but she actually loves being

on both sides of a conversation. So we recently asked you on Twitter and Facebook to share

some of the questions that you've been asking in your own lives, and your responses were

beautiful. And actually, they often reflected what's been on Chris' mind recently, like

this question from Marja, Shana, and Dorothy. How can we stay present to what's happening

in the world without giving in to despair and hopelessness?

Yeah, that's a small question.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's important, first of all, to acknowledge the pain and dismay and

distress and despair that just following the news, like that being present to what's happening

in the world right now, causes. And I mean, I would just say, I don't think this is all that

imaginative, but for me, I mean, one way I stay grounded is by limiting my exposure to like

what I'm taking in. And that's not choosing to be uninformed, but I don't actually think we are

equipped, like even physiologically or mentally, to be delivered catastrophic and confusing

news and pictures 24-7. Like, we are not, we are analog creatures in a digital world.

And so I don't follow what happened in the last 20 minutes all day long. And I think that's actually

right now a spiritual discipline. You know, I listened to the BBC Morning News program,

not the World Service, but like the BBC Morning News that was on six hours ago, our time.

And so I like, no, if any big things happened overnight, but I know also that whatever happened

in the last few hours, I will find out about InduCourse. And I don't need to feed myself a constant

diet of despair. The other spiritual discipline and way to stay grounded is that however seriously

...