I confess to being somewhat bewildered by the waves of events which keep crashing onto the shore of our lives. All deserve expansive attention yet comment on their tidal sweep could drown empathy by virtue of compassion fatigue, while cursory mention would seem to marginalize their hugeness.

Let us think laterally then as to how to manage reaction. Acknowledgement is vastly validating; demonstrable recognition someone has acted or something has occurred in a meaningful way replenishes the kindness it extends. Being thankful, mournful, accepted, welcomed, kind, understanding of and to others is a grounding phenomenon that stabilizes compassion and grows capacity to be larger than before.

This balanced giving and receiving won’t lessen the reality of external events but will supply the ballast to maintain equilibrium amid all the squalling turmoil caused.

The dead – and sometimes the living – drop out of conversation in virtue of speakers not knowing what to say. Being present and cultivating a silence from which thought finds its voice is a peaceful, organic approach to remembering, lest we forget.