We can think about resilience as the ability to stay connected to the challenges of life. In the midst of chaos or uncertainty, we have at least two choices. First, we can retreat to a place of solitude and withdraw. Alternatively, we can stay attuned to what is present in our lives and engage. Through active engagement in our current reality, we strengthen our resilience muscle.

The political turmoil in the United States has created a great deal of uncertainty. Our political perspective, whether conservative or liberal, is irrelevant. Both sides of the political spectrum are out of balance, incapable of communicating with each other. They are scrambling to find their footing. My footing, being on the liberal side of the spectrum, is shaky and unsettled. Every day something new hits my radar screen, and i wonder whether things are about to fall apart.

Here is a sampling of the challenges I confront that represent my uncertainty.

• As an educator, the dissolution of the U.S. Department of Education
• A looming measles outbreak in the midst of vaccine conspiracy theories
• Mass firings of civil servants in our government without cause
• A political activist carrying a green card detained and sequestered
• Transsexual Americans fearing for their safety
• Unprecedented political retribution in our government’s Executive Branch
• Animus between the two political parties in the U.S. that stymies building consensus on critical issues
• The Executive Branch of our government spouting colonialist rhetoric
• The demise of diversity, equity, and inclusivity as a guiding light in the midst of a resurgence of uniformity, inequity, and exclusivity
• The erosion of our commons is evident in the disappearing resources. These resources should be accessible to members of all societies. This includes natural resources such as clean air, water, and a habitable Earth.
• A lack of empathy in America’s political life for the trauma and suffering that so many citizens, and peoples around the globe, face
• Our political leaders are othering those who don’t think or look like them. They show a particular disdain for immigrants, who serve as a backbone to our civil society.

In her essay, When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron writes:

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think the point it to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get resolved. They come together, then they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for joy. (reference)

The challenge I believe we all face is to stay engaged in civic life, not withdraw from it. Engaging with the challenges of life is an individual experience with no single recipe for how it’s done. But each one of us must find our way through the chaos, not losing ourselves in it. The path of awakening involves staying in the uncertainty. It means tempering our emotions and trying not to panic. We must stay true to our values and resist wherever we can.

Fighting Oligarchy Tour organized by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an example of voices of resistance at work. Their movement is drawing tens of thousands of people. Other people, politicians and regular folks, are finding their own way to resist the chaos. Adam Kinzinger, Chris Murphy, and Adam Schiff are inserting their voices into the resistance movement. These resistance efforts are working on behalf of people who are outraged at the insensitivity of our current administration’s attempts to further divide us.

I am choosing the path of resistance in our current reality. “Things falling apart” is a test as Pema Chodron writes. It is a call for us to stand in the tragic gap (reference). We find ourselves between the chaos of the present moment and our desire for a better future for all Americans. If we stand in the gap, we can heal the trauma. By remaining resilient, we address the suffering people experience in the present moment.