How to Identify and Love Your Lane
This article, like most of the articles I write on this site, is for my fellow feelers.
Hi, empaths!
Wow, the problems in the world seem kind of never ending and gigantic, don’t they?
When I see the depth of the problems in the world today, it feels like I’m standing at the bottom of a 60-story tall ladder looking up at the blinding sun.
How in the world are we supposed to reach the sun or even general okayness while we stand in the quicksand of systemic racism, sex/gender-based violence, world hunger, rampant consumerism, and a shrinking timeline to address climate change?
I want to do it all, but the doing of it all feels so impossible that sometimes I just sit at the bottom of the ladder and stare up feeling pre-defeated.
Identifying Your Lane, and Rocking it
I am not a lawyer, a journalist, a doctor, a politician, or anyone with any perceived power to make the big strides toward the sun.
I can spend time lamenting on all the things that I am not and all the control that I don’t have, or I can look down at my feet and reflect on my lane.
What am I good at? What talents or perspectives or skills do I have that can offer a bit of healing or upward motion in our climb to better things?
Bo Burnham said it, and sang it, expertly in his newly released special on Netflix called “Inside.”
In the beginning of the special, he having an emotional back-and-forth about the virtue or impact of being a comedian in a world with so many problems - that telling a joke cannot possibly seem to tackle. “If you wake up in a house that’s full of smoke, don’t panic. Call me and I’ll tell you a joke.”
But here’s the thing, of course jokes won’t feed the hungry, or heal the tattered ozone, but those who are feeding the hungry and healing the ozone need to laugh.
Bo is not offering something tangible like food or renewable energy resources, but he is fueling another very real human need - emotional connection, relief from the serious, and by creating comedy he is allowing those whose lane it is to do the feeding and the science-ing to replenish their sense of hope.
And goddammit that is valuable.
Eyes on the Road Ahead, Please and Thank You
We can all spend time shifting lanes and checking our mirrors and identifying just exactly how we are deficient at solving the world’s problems.
OR we can stay in our lane, eyes on the road ahead blaring our favorite song and waving to other cars on the road as they rock out in their own lanes too.
Your gifts are needed.
Your talents are impactful.
Comedy and writing and doctoring and listening and marching and researching are ALL needed.
We need people in each of these lanes focusing on their leg of the journey, with their eyes focused on the road ahead.
So take this as your permission to identify your lane, then hit the gas.
We need you exactly as you are.
Yours in road tripping,
Emily Rose // Miss Magnolia
Check Out these Related Posts
Past Due: A Discussion on Whiteness for White People - An introduction to white privilege, systemic racism, and the danger of unaddressed unconscious bias.
Working within Your Bubble - Working within your bubble is another way to say, "think globally, act locally!” Check out this article to see easy ways to affect change, and feel less overwhelmed in the process.
Goal Getting is Not a Sprint - Achieve your goals and avoid burnout. If you wear yourself out, your goal will seem unachievable, even if it’s something you can accomplish with a plan.
Grab the Guided Journal
If you are looking for more brain-bending questions and inspirational anecdotes, get yourself a copy of Write it to Right it: The Guided Journal for Serious People with Scattered Brainthoughts. You can also download a sneak peak of chapter 3 by entering your email in the footer below. Happy journaling!
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