When the World Won’t Calm Down, You Still Can
If you’ve been doom scrolling, I’m not here to scold you.
Sometimes the scroll is the only place that feels like you’re doing something, even when you’re not sure what “something” would even be.
And then it’s 11:47 p.m.
Your thumb hurts.
Your chest feels tight.
You close the app, and your brain keeps going anyway.
A lot of people are walking around with some mix of:
Confused about what to do.
Paralyzed by the news.
Alone.
Disembodied, like they’re hovering above their own life.
Checked out, because being fully present feels like too much.
If that’s you, I get it.
Also, the bad news: the world is not going to get uncomplicated.
The names of the stressors will change, but the feeling of being pulled into urgency, outrage, and helplessness? That’s a feature of modern life. So the question becomes less “how do I make it stop?” and more:
Where do I go to be with what it’s doing to me?
That’s what spiritual direction is.
What Spiritual Direction Is (No Jargon, No Religion Required)
Spiritual direction is a dedicated space to pay attention to your inner life. It’s a quiet, guided conversation where you can slow down and listen to what’s actually happening inside you, especially when everything outside you is loud. If the phrase spiritual direction makes you think of religion, sermons, or someone telling you what to believe, you’re not wrong to hesitate. That’s not the version I practice. You do not need to be religious. You do not need to have “faith.” You do not need to know what you believe. You just need a desire to stop abandoning yourself every time the world gets intense.
Why This Helps When the World Feels Like It’s On Fire
There’s a particular kind of overwhelm that comes from living in a time where everything feels urgent and complicated. You can care deeply and still feel powerless. You can be informed and still feel lost.
And a lot of us swing between two modes:
spiraling, refreshing, reading one more thread
checking out, numbing, going blank
Neither of those is a real resting place. Spiritual direction is not about ignoring what’s happening. It’s about giving yourself somewhere to tell the truth about what it’s stirring up in you. Because the real question isn’t only “what’s happening out there?”
It’s:
What is this doing to me?
What am I afraid to feel?
What am I carrying alone?
What part of me is going numb as a form of protection?
What do I already know but keep covering with noise?
When people finally have room to ask their most meaningful questions without being rushed, something shifts. Not instantly. Not magically. But honestly.
What It’s Like to Work With Me
Sessions are virtual. A full session is about an hour.
We start in silence.
Not a performative silence. Not “clear your mind.” Just a few minutes to let your body arrive, so you’re not answering from the same frantic place you live in all day.
Then you bring whatever is most present for you. Maybe it’s anxiety. Maybe it’s anger. Maybe it’s grief. Maybe it’s just… fog.
I ask questions. You respond. We listen together.
And here is the piece that matters:
I’m not going to give you answers.
I’m not going to tell you what to do.
I’m not going to turn your experience into advice.
My job is to be a steady, spacious presence, like a white board you can use to map what’s really going on, without being judged or fixed. A place to sketch, diagram, notice patterns, and hear what’s been trying to get your attention. For a lot of people, that alone is a relief.
“Is This Therapy?”
It can sit alongside therapy beautifully, but it’s not the same thing. Therapy often focuses on mental health, symptoms, stories, and strategies. Spiritual direction is more like: What is your life saying, underneath all the coping? It’s about attention. Meaning. Integrity. Coming back to yourself.
If you feel disembodied, checked out, or stuck in a loop of “I don’t know what to do,” this kind of listening can be a way back into your own life, one honest sentence at a time.
A Tiny Practice (Two Minutes, No Incense Required)
Try this right now.
Put your phone face down.
Let your shoulders drop.
Take three slower breaths than you want to.
Then ask yourself:
What’s the headline inside me today?
Not the news. The internal headline.
Say it in one sentence, without cleaning it up.
“I feel paralyzed and I don’t know what to do.”
“I feel alone, and I hate admitting that.”
“I’m checked out because I’m scared of how much I care.”
“I feel disembodied. I want to come back.”
Then sit and listen to what that feels like. No judgment just listening and breathing.
That sentence is not the end of the practice.
It’s the beginning.
Spiritual direction is what it looks like to stay with that sentence long enough for it to open.
If You’re Curious, Start Small
I offer a free 15 minute consult.
It’s a low pressure conversation where you can ask questions, get a feel for what spiritual direction is, and decide if you want to try a full session.
Full sessions are $60 for an hour. I meet weekday evenings and Sundays.
To set up a consult, email me: Zachary.jellson@gmail.com
And if you’re reading this thinking, “I don’t even know what I’d say,” that’s fine. That’s common. You can start with: “I feel overwhelmed and I want a place to sort out what’s going on inside.”
That’s more than enough.
Doom scrolling is not a spiritual practice. Listening is.
