Apathy doesn’t arrive loudly—it shows up as quiet fatigue. What if it’s not indifference or failure, but the body and spirit asking to be named, heard, and cared for?
tinyurl.com/3devj8ts
There are so many ways to give of ourselves fully.
So many honest offerings.
So many faithful yeses.
Not every all in looks alike.
And yet all of them can be enough.
All in doesn’t sound the same in every life.
It bends to the edges and curves of our days,
the strength we hold,
the limits we navigate.
What is a 100% for one
would be incredibly unsustainable for another
and neither one is less true or sincere.
✨ Tonight I joined a Zoom led by @leonlongard.bsky.social holding stories, honoring truth, breathing together. In shared vulnerability, we remembered hope, prayed, and came back to our bodies. These pauses steady our nervous systems and resist apathy. Grateful for all who showed up. 💫
Make it stop! Hahaha
This daylights savings time is doing a number on me!
Comparison is an easy trap, measuring who’s “doing more,” who’s “really down for the cause.” But that kind of inner tug-of-war is exhausting.
open.substack.com/pub/brendare...
Wichita update: every squirrel here has an acorn in its mouth. Either Kansas squirrels are straight-up overachievers… or SoCal squirrels are just vibin’ too hard to meal prep.
I am suggesting that the genesis of the great justice movements of the twentieth century emerged from the consistent contemplative practices of those seeking liberation. -Joy Unspeakable, Barbara A. Holmes
Activism and contemplation are not functional opposites. Rather, contemplation is, at its heart, a reflective activity that is always seeking the spiritual balance between individual piety and communal justice seeking.
broken twigs, random flower patches,
curiously twisted trees.
A beauty that is not an escape,
but a reminder of what is good, pure,
and holy.
I fear our society is so pressurized that we’re looking for an escape. We’ve reached the point where even an unhealthy, irrational escape feels welcome.
As for me? My soul is longing for beauty…
the kind found in the imperfections of a traveled path:
I met Larissa not in Hawai‘i or California, but in Wichita. She & her husband co-founded Inoanāiwi, a nonprofit restoring ancestral land to Native Hawaiians. It means “that the bones would rest.” Her story reshaped how I see land, justice, & even my hikes. More here: BrendaRenderos.Substack.com
The noise is loud.
But our work is louder.
Stay steady.
“If you let a person talk long enough you'll hear their true intentions. Listen twice, speak once.” Tupac Shakur
I’m just gonna leave this gem here. ◡̈
Today marked my first healing retreat after yrs of waiting. ✨We explored what it means to hold tension + receive hope through crafts, guided walk, & sacred rest. No one had to explain or prove themselves, just show up & be enough. 🌿Caring for ourselves is resistance, a way of preserving life & love.
I’ve led spiritual retreats before but today’s will be my first in this way. Focusing on those in the social justice sphere. I’ve wanted to do this for a few years. Today is the day!
Fight-or-flight keeps the breath shallow.
Extended, it leaves us drained.
Permission: stop, unclench, inhale deeply.
Even lighting a candle and breathing with its flicker can help. 🕯️
I’m curious how others give themselves permission to “take a full breath”.
Anyone else feel like life just shifted into sci-fi mode? The storylines don’t even feel real. Like… is this a dream sequence or the simulation glitching?
✨
If you’re struggling with anger or overwhelm, you are not alone.
What practices help you hold space for both your anger and your calm?
The words I share are not just encouragements for others… they are my own reflections, whispered reminders, course redirections.
Confessions of a heart still learning to be both steady and activated at the same time.
This is my confession. Not of wrong, but of humanness.
I wrestle. I feel deeply. I return again and again to stillness.
My contemplative way is not complacency.
It is how I hold tension without losing myself, how I stay rooted and awake to truth.
Sometimes I’d rather choose anger.
It feels sharper, louder, more immediately satisfying than the quiet.
But when it swells and threatens to overtake me, the contemplative way pulls me back… my lifeline to breathe, return, and stay steady.
This is my confession. Not of wrong, but of humanness.
I wrestle. I feel deeply. I return again and again to stillness.
My contemplative way is not complacency.
It is how I hold tension without losing myself, how I stay rooted and awake to truth.
To be formed in Christ is to be formed for the sake of others. To be formed in Christ is to be drawn into a love that reaches beyond ourselves, a love that gives, serves, mirrors the heart of God in quiet, bold ways. SF shapes who we are AND how we journey the world, leaving traces of God’s life.
Stories swirling across our screens.
But connection is always more than text.
Call a friend.
Share a meal.
Allow your bare feet to touch the earth,
hands in the dirt, heart awake.
Let us remember our humanity
and the humanity of one another.
Because isn’t that what we’re really fighting for?
THIS IS NOT THE WAY
how many more bodies?
how many more tears?
a lament and call
www.instagram.com/p/DOcXfgRD63...
Sacred Boundaries
Edges shape the beauty of our lives.
Our limitations can be gifts and invitations.
They remind us that we are not meant to carry it all,
and that boundaries can be a form of love.
Something to consider: Where could a boundary today be a gift to yourself?
