FTC in-btwn # 14: The Weight of What Holds Us

When the world spins out of control, how do you find your center? Join me for an 8-minute journey that turns a snow globe into a radical map for surviving chaos. 

Joan of Arc Scroll Medal
This brass alloy medal can be worn on a necklace, a keychain, dogtags, on a bag, or in your car.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Please Note: The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcaster.

Follow me on Instagram!

Transcript

FTC in-btwn # 14:  The Weight of What Holds Us

When all hell breaks loose, I want to be a snow globe. Let me explain. Shake a snow globe up and down or side to side. Snow swirls around in chaos—but the figures inside? They stay grounded. They don't move. You can shake that globe as hard as you want, and yet, the figures are still.

I think about this a lot because these days, the world feels like a chaotic, swirling, upside-down snow globe. How should I react? What can I do?

A snow globe invites you to really look at it—to hold it in your hand, turn it around, and see its little world from every angle. Inside, it’s all self-contained, crystal-clear, and the figures? They never move. 

Here’s my question: How the hell  could anyone look at a snow globe and not think of mystic saints and wise women? Let me explain.

I grew up Italian catholic, so I know a bit about saints!

The mystic saints—women like Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, and then look at Julian of Norwich, Hildegarde of Bingen, and Joan of Arc -Their lives were thrown into upheaval, like a pot boiling over, spilling chaos everywhere. They were visionaries, spiritual leaders, and fierce truth-tellers who found clarity and grounding in the midst of turbulence!

Julian of Norwich, in the middle of the Black Plague wrote: “All shall be well... and all manner of thing shall be well.”  You see, that's what I’m talking about!

What fascinates me about them, is their ability to remain steady. Teresa lived in 16th-century Spain during the Protestant Reformation, the Spanish Inquisition, and wars in Europe and the Ottoman Empire! And yet -she spoke of the "Interior Castle," a sanctuary of stillness and truth within herself. 

Catherine lived in 14th century Italy, a time of profound unrest marked by the Black Plague, the Church splitting itself during the Avignon Papacy and Great Schism, and the constant, violent political conflicts between Italian city-states. For her, the " Cell of Self-Knowledge," was a place where the noise of the world couldn’t reach. These women were the figures inside the snow globe—unmoved by the storms around them, radiating a quiet strength that still resonates today.

So, when I look at a snow globe, I see a metaphor for their lives. The swirling chaos, the unshaken stillness, the way they taught us to stand firm in our own inner truth—how could I not think of them?

And here’s the connection: Teresa’s I"nterior Castle," Catherine’s “Cell of Self-Knowledge- these are different ways of saying the same thing- find your set point, that core within you.  Like a level in a carpenter's hand, the bubble steadies itself when things are aligned.  When they are  True. True north. True self. True being.

But what happens when we lose that set point? 

I can lose mine in a nano second  when I start scrolling the news: Fear, statistics, rage, dismay, predictions, and doom! And if that's not enough, the din of social media, or the frenzied energy of friends who are just as scared as I am. 

Emotionally, I get caught  in a Wizard of Oz tornado, churning like a furious gray beast, twisting my inner sky into a swirling chaos.  Debris of thought and feeling ricochets wildly in its grasp—fragments of fear, doubt, and worry—spinning in a mad, dizzying ballet against the stormy backdrop of uncertainty.

Whoa! There has to be another way.

When the cosmic snow globe is shaken, I can choose to be the still figure inside. I can let the storm swirl around me without being consumed by it. I can step back, breathe, and discern.

This is not about retreating. It’s about standing firm, even as the snow falls. I will say this again: This is not about retreating. It’s about standing firm.

It's a combo plate: The wisdom of the mystics,  wise women, and the wisdom of the snow globe: Stay grounded. Be steady. And yes, be steady for each other.

Because life is always in flux!  The question is, in a world that keeps shaking and swirling, how do I hold my ground and stay true to who I am?"

The snow globe reminds us: The figures don’t move. They don’t lose their grip. They remain still, steady, and grounded in their glass-domed world.

That’s what I want. To be the figure that stands still, even in the snow globe of big-ass crazy! To find clarity in chaos. I cannot control world events, but I can control my reactions.

So, shake the snow globe. Let the world swirl. But remember: We can be steady for ourselves, and for each other -creating a force field, an invisible energy that repels fear and chaos – to find true.