January’s Muse

Staying Oriented in a Noisy World

Portugal. VW California Campervan.

Photo by Wendy Stieg

There is noise right now. It pulls at your attention from every direction, asking for your time, your energy, your opinions. It can start to feel hard to think clearly, as if your focus is constantly being tugged away from what you know actually matters. Attention drifts toward things you cannot control, the mind keeps scanning, and the body tightens. Over time, too much of this leads to overwhelm and burnout. It is not a personal failure. It is simply what happens when everything stays loud for too long. Sometimes life adds real challenges on top of that noise, and the instinct is to pull away or escape. That response is natural. The noise itself does not turn off, but you can choose where you place your attention.

You know what is right for you. Your body knows. There is often a sense of calm the moment you return to yourself. That pivot can feel like an internal compass, quietly re-orienting you toward what you know matters. Learning to redirect your energy, focus, and thoughts is a skill that takes time, but it can begin simply by noticing when something does not feel good or helpful. That awareness alone is often enough to shift direction. Choosing what supports you, what steadies you, and what brings clarity is not disengagement. It is a way of moving away from the noise without leaving your life. Sometimes it even means changing your surroundings altogether, and remembering that you are allowed to do that too.

I have some upcoming trips ahead, with loose ideas of where I’m going and what I hope to explore. Before planning or researching, I often find it grounding to reflect on past trips and notice what actually worked. One moment that comes back to me happened while we were driving from Lisbon to Sevilla in our little red VW California campervan. We were edging closer to Spain when the van had other ideas. A tire blew out in a roundabout in a small town in eastern Portugal. Panic set in for me immediately as Paul eased the van to the side of the road, perched at an awkward angle with very little room to spare.

I left Paul and the van behind to look for help, armed with clunky Portuguese and no real plan. Paul had mentioned that the jack included with the VW was affectionately known as “the Widowmaker,” which did nothing to calm my nerves. Eventually, I found a small fire station. A kind bombeiro helped us wrangle a safer jack, and somehow, between him and Paul, the tire was changed. At some point, as my mind raced ahead to worst-case scenarios, another thought surfaced. Whatever happened next, we were in Portugal. My body began to calm. So did my thoughts.

The plan had already been undone, and yet the day carried on. Not long after, we found ourselves having lunch in a small local restaurant just across the border in Spain, laughing at how quickly the mood had shifted. That moment set the tone for the rest of the trip. Things rarely go exactly as planned, but when you stay oriented instead of clenched, unexpected ease and joy have a way of finding you. And if nothing else, I learned that in Portugal, at least, they still believe in real spare tires.

Let things fall apart. Stop exhausting yourself trying to hold them together.

— Meryl Streep

What moments like this remind me of is something I already know. Life becomes gentler when you trust yourself to navigate it. Not by forcing certainty or controlling every outcome, but by allowing yourself to respond honestly to what is in front of you. When you stop fighting the unfolding and start listening, alignment follows. You are not being carried through your experiences. You are participating in them, shaping them as you go.

If it helps to hold onto this kind of reflection, the Five Things: Gratitude Journal was created for moments like this.

There is relief in remembering this. A sense of steadiness that arrives when you stop rushing toward the next decision and simply stay with where you are. Breathing slows. Perspective widens. You do not need to have everything figured out. You only need to stay oriented, present enough to notice what is unfolding, and willing to meet it as yourself. Allow this energy to help inform your thoughts on planning, but better yet, allow space, and the inspiration will come!