It's now Friday evening, after 10pm. My feelings of helplessness and sadness about the hurricane victims seem to be dissipating at last. Here's why I think the fog is finally lifting: I significantly limited my news-watching time in the past 24 hours. Having the TV on nearly all day was draining me emotionally. Giving myself permission to cut back was clearly a smart move. When I did watch the news, it helped to learn that troops and supplies have reached New Orleans and considerably more people were evacuated by bus and chopper today. That means more people have hope of surviving and starting over. I played with my part-time dog (my sister's Golden Retriever, Abbie, who is hanging out with us for the weekend). Having a pet around is very comforting and stress-reducing. If you've got one in your home, hug them extra this week. I wrote. I wrote in my journal. I wrote here at my blog. And I wrote and published a new issue of my Living Boldly newsletter, about how to cope with the helpless feeling - and in so doing, found my own helplessness easing. I updated my web site home page to list resources for... Read more →