Empath for this time

I am sad, a friend replied honestly when the perfunctory question of "how are you" was posed, As an Empath, I can't seem to lift out of everything that is happening in the world.

I understand.

another perfunctory output.

But we are all truly contending with this issue. How do we continue with pleasantries when rage and despair is the daily headline?

My first answer is to commit to an action-- whether it is to recycle, carry your own grocery bag, write a weekly letter for a cause or phone call to a politician. To pick your passion niche where and how your time and energy is most effective. I'm sorry, but I don't march. I am agoraphobic and have two small children in tow. I can deploy my utility in more focused ways. But--if you march for a cause I care about, feel free to hit me up for child care (as long as it's less than 3 beings-- all toilet trained ;)

Second-- community. It's BBQ time, it's poetry reading by moonlight time, it's beach time with friends, Yes. Say yes to yourself and do it. Hang with friends, drink something sweet, sour, and cold. and if you need to rant then, so be it.

And JOY. 
be joyous.
laugh.
let yourself delight in the world.

In the trajectory of humankind, we are upward. The bumps let us know something needs to be fixed along our way. And yes, I mean bump as a rhyming pun.

I've shared this podcast in the past and will again. On Being lifts me when I need another voice in my head besides my own...and my mother's. lol.