How To Holistically Heal... Living with the Knowing
The Distress of Global Affairs in a Hypernormalised World
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Pic: The olive branch — an enduring symbol of life, peace, resilience, and renewal.
Interrupting our regular newsletter, which usually focuses on health and healing — particular conditions, food as medicine, and lifestyle guidance — to speak directly to what is happening right now. I’ve been hearing from many distressed patients and clients, and I feel called to name what’s stirring beneath the surface for so many of us.
How do we navigate global affairs that deeply impact our home lives, our workplaces, and our sense of security? How do we metabolise the distress — especially when we know that stress and fear can dysregulate our nervous systems and impede our healing?
There’s a particular kind of distress that haunts many of us today — a grief not entirely personal, yet deeply felt. A low, persistent ache that hums beneath the surface of our daily lives. It arises from bearing witness to the state of the world. From knowing too much. And from not knowing what to do with that knowledge.
We are living through what some have called hypernormalisation — the strange and dissonant reality in which global crises are visible, undeniable, and yet absorbed into daily life as if they were background noise. We are witnessing Climate collapse. War. Genocide. Mass displacement. Widespread food insecurity. Exploitation of people and the planet. Rising hatred. Digital surveillance. Fear. Economic instability. The slow, chilling erosion of Truth itself.
Some of us know — and are deeply tapped into global affairs. We try to act, to engage, to respond with integrity.
Some know, but feel helpless, paralysed by the enormity of the problems and unsure where to begin.
Some know, but carry on as though they don’t — numbing the awareness in order to function, protect, or survive.
Some don’t know — and perhaps don’t want to.
And some know and simply don’t care — a response that may be the hardest of all to comprehend.
But for those of us who do know, and do care — what then?
How do we live with the knowing?
We seek out others who feel it too — others who are awake, and tender, and disturbed by what they see.
We join groups, communities, circles of conversation. We support those who are able to do more than we currently can.
We look for meaning in places that offer refuge: in nature, art, food, family, ritual.
We want to act — but we also have lives to live, bills to pay, children to care for, work to do. We carry on, but we do so with the weight of awareness in our bones.
This is the paradox of being alive right now:
To feel the distress, but not be destroyed by it.
To hold the ache without collapsing under it.
To respond — not perfectly, but faithfully.
So if you, too, are living with the knowing —
if your heart breaks a little each time the news flickers on,
if you find yourself holding the tension of care and fatigue,
know this: you are not alone.
Tend to what is yours to tend.
Reach toward others who care.
Refuse to be hardened.
And when you can, take action — not because it will fix everything,
but because it reaffirms who you are.
Integrity is not about having the perfect response to a broken world.
It is about remaining whole within it.
If this resonates, perhaps it’s time to channel the distress into direction. Not frantic doing, but grounded, thoughtful action. Ask yourself:
What can I meaningfully contribute?
Who is already doing the work I can support?
Where can I stay awake and engaged, even in small ways?
Here are a few starting points:
Support grassroots organisations aligned with justice, climate action, and human rights
Subscribe to independent journalism that values truth over spectacle
Read and listen to thinkers who expand your perspective and resonate with your beliefs
Join a local initiative — environmental, social, or educational — even if it feels small - be of service to others
Talk with your children, family, friends and those in need — especially those who are also quietly distressed
Nourish your mind, body, and spirit — care is a form of resistance. Seek wise counsel. Speak with a therapist. Lean on your holistic practitioner. Don’t hesitate to get the support you need to stay grounded, well, and awake
Tend to your own ecosystem — let your home reflect the world you wish to see: one of care, reverence, and restoration
Vote with your dollar — support organic farmers, regenerative growers, ethical producers, and those who protect the soil, the pollinators, the waterways, the animals, and the plants we depend on. Choose whole food over fast food, care over convenience. How we eat, shop, and live is part of how we participate
The distress doesn’t disappear when we act — but it transforms.
Into belonging.
Into responsibility.
Into a deeper kind of love.
Thank you for reading,
Anthia
P.S. My values and ethos have always been the same. To read more about me, visit: https://apothecabyanthia.com/pages/about
P.S.S. An article that inspired this piece https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-interactive/2025/may/22/hypernormalization-dysfunction-status-quo