Inner Climate Guide is a newsletter by me, Ryan Grist, exploring big questions about what it means to be human and practical ideas about caring for ourselves in a world on fire. Delivered every other week. Get your own copy by subscribing below. Then scroll down to read my introductory letter.
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Dear Friends,
Our world is not well. We are living in a time of widespread change and disruption in nearly every aspect of our personal, political, social, cultural, and planetary lives. The pace of it all is overwhelming. It feels like every day the world becomes less humane and more insane. We are human, and we are suffering on many levels, in many ways.Â
I write this from the perspective of someone whose identities (white, male, cisgender, heterosexual) grant me countless privileges and advantages that buffer me from the worst of it. Suffering is unequally distributed across geographic location, racial categorization, gender identity, and socioeconomic status.
And that is exactly why this matters. The world’s suffering is our suffering. We are not separate.Â
Despite the injustices and the cruelty, people are showing up in incredible ways. Healers, movement leaders, and ordinary people are leading with their hearts, finding meaningful ways to contribute, and reminding us of the courage and love that are always alive in the human spirit.Â
It is not easy. But we are here.
Some days, we cling to hope. Other days we bathe in despair. We search for answers, solutions, a purpose. We want to know where on earth we are going, what it all means, and when it will end. We want to feel healthy and alive, present to the suffering but not overtaken by it. We want to live a meaningful life, and stay awake, not numb ourselves to the pain. Living in these bodies at this time is a beautiful and terrible thing.Â
How do we stay healthy and engaged when the world feels like it is falling apart?
How do we accept the world as it is and work to change it with the unshakeable faith that we can do better, that we must?
How do we know when we’ve done enough, when we can never do enough?Â
How do we care for our Inner Climate when there is so much suffering in the outer climate?
There are no easy answers to these questions, but that doesn’t have to leave us feeling uneasy. My intention is to explore and build community around questions like these, so that perhaps, together, we can live the answers into being (as Rilke so famously wrote).
Inner Climate Guide is a newsletter about caring for ourselves and each other in difficult times. It is an exploration of what it looks like to stay active, engaged, and healthy in the face of widespread change. It is an honest and nuanced portrayal of the human experience that challenges our cultural obsession with quick-fix solutions to complex predicaments. It is a community of readers, like you and me, who ask life’s big questions, care deeply, and sometimes struggle to feel the weight of it all.
My hope is that this newsletter will bring greater balance into your life and keep you connected to the kind, courageous, and generous human spirit that lives inside of you. A warm welcome from my heart to yours. I’m so glad we’re here, together.
With gratitude,
Ryan