Encouragement for the Messy Middle

My favorite tool when something in life feels very, very hard

How do you navigate difficult situations — those times when life feels exceptionally hard? What tools do you use to encourage and comfort yourself while wading through the messy middle? 

Navaho Pass, July 2018 - photo by David Ryan

Something you may or may not know about me is that I’m a song repeater. When I find a song that I’m into, I play it on a loop until I know all the words, and then keep going – I get in a zone. 

Often, I latch onto a song that speaks directly to a feeling or season I’m in the midst of, something I’m struggling to articulate and process. Especially when my self-confidence is shaky, and my own words feel inadequate, I’m thankful for other artists – musicians, novelists, poets – who share their work with the world. 

In the summer of 2018, I had “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman on a loop.