If you would have asked me a year ago when I thought the end of the world might be, I would have told you it was crazy to think the end of the world could take place at any point in time. I would have said that claiming such a thing would be something exaggerated and not reality. It would be propaganda and should be dismissed.
But as I sit here on Sunday, June 22, 2025 (when I wrote this) after the US bombed Iran, I don’t feel so crazy thinking any day could be the day the systems and structures in our society could be so disrupted, that it would be like the “end of the world”.
It makes me think about all the times I’ve heard the phrase, “Stop acting like it’s the end of the world.”
Perhaps that’s what uncertainty does to people.
It makes them “act” a certain way that creates discomfort for other people.
It’s easier to tell someone they’re overreacting than it is to accept uncertainty when the other person expresses it.
What would the end of the world be like?
I’m a mixed bag of feelings. I don’t really like that I have a mental visual in my head fed from books, media and movies. Some elements of those fictions have parallels to realities we’re currently living within, making it even harder to tell what is fact or fiction in today's non-stop news cycle. Add a sprinkle of AI and a dash of political unrest and folks, it just doesn’t feel “out-of-my-mind-crazy” to think any day now could be the last “normal” day before the world ends.
Despite all these overwhelming feelings of doom-centered uncertainty, I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time.
It’s a really strange feeling to hold alongside my wandering brain wondering if “any day now” is going to be tomorrow, while simultaneously shaming myself for acting like it’s the end of the world.
I can’t help but wonder if that’s the whole purpose.
Of the chaos.
Of the rapidly changing news updates.
Of the “unprecedented times” vibes.
To make people so uncomfortable with the tension of witnessing what is happening in front of our eyes in a moment in time when we have so much information and access to knowledge at our fingertips. In a period of uncertainty where we’re skeptical about the realness of the words we’re reading, or how much was added commentary from an opinionated mouth piece. All this while AI blends, blurs, pulls, pushes and twists the curated records of information from all corners of the internet like some strange game of Bop-it!
Which would be fine and dandy if it weren’t our heads that are being bopped.
So it’s easier to ignore the tension and default to living like it’s any other normal day. It’s easier to put what feels so uncharted and unreal into a tiny little shoebox in the corners of the mind and go on without pause.
It’s been getting harder to get excited about some aspects of my work each day. When I compare where I could be spending my energy and how I’m spending it, work just doesn’t feel like the right place. So instead, I’m bulking up my schedule with more community work. More human connection. More celebration of good things. Because that is all that is within my control and it makes me feel alive to know that every day I’m giving it everything I’ve got to live the life I want. To live a life I’ve built. To live a life I fought for.
The last few months I’ve reflected on my career and personal life in a different lens. I’ve looked back for a really long time and over the last year or so, I’ve gotten tired of it. I want to look where I am now and I’d really like to look forward. It’s hard to plan for a future in a world of complete uncertainty, but I can at least look at the short-term future and present moment and do my best to live to the fullest.
I have this desire to chase the sun each day in an effort to make an impact and support others. To build and create and celebrate good things in and around us each day. To meet and connect and inspire one another to be the change they wish to see in this world - as cliche as that sounds.
This season of my life feels like zipping through a waterslide anticipating your drop off into the pool is going to happen at any moment and it always seems to take longer than expected. When you finally splash into the water and then float to the top, that gasp of air fills my body with a thrilling sensation and the desire to do it all over again.
If it’s going to be the end of the world any day now, I want to live as many days as possible before it happens with a sliver of risk, a dash of optimism, a sprinkle of fear and a whole fuck-ton of moxie.
And every now and then, I feel the weight of terror slink up my spine and crawl behind my ears, tingling and raising my senses.
It makes me feel like should be hunkering down, scared, overwhelmed and prioritizing taking care of me, my family and my home. It’s a strange emotional reaction to examine from an arms length, wondering where that sensation is coming from and knowing it’s partially manufactured and partially horrifyingly true.
It creates a dark, scary mindset that I previously resided within and left behind years ago. I’ve fought years of internal lies and false beliefs to leave that dark, scary mindset behind and live with a more joyful, growth-centric one instead. I’ve traded out old ways of viewing myself, for an unwavering sense of who I am and who I want to be in this life.
So it seems, I am at war within myself each day as my body teeters between thrilling shivers of happiness and the unbridled terror of uncertainty.
I don’t know what the headlines will read later today or tomorrow. I’m not versed enough on international politics to speak deeply about what just happened in Iran.
I can tell you, it feels really scary right now. And if you’re feeling that way too, please know you aren’t alone.
I can tell you I’ll be calling my representatives between client work and meetings.
I can tell you I’m not going to let the fear of “any day now” hold me back from living a life of community, connection and joy.
And I invite you to do the same.
Embrace the war of teetering emotions and reactions happening inside you and choose joy, especially on the scary days.
Important Note:
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All past content is now blocked by a paywall. Paying a monthly or annual subscription to read my words and work. There are two options:
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