Blogging at the End of the World

How do you stay focused on work, even when it feels like everything is crumbling around you?

As I type, Hurricane Milton is moving across the Gulf, bearing down on Florida. it’s the strongest storm they’ve seen in 100 years. Distracting, isn’t it?

Especially on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which left hundreds of people dead, and thousands more without homes, safe water, or a clear path forward.

How do you keep going in times like these? Hands to keyboard, head to spreadsheet, eyes on a future that—let’s face it—is increasingly uncertain?

I recently posed a similar question on Facebook, asking friends about a time they had to work in absurdly stressful circumstances, and wow… From working through a child's serious illness, a spouse’s death, a nervous breakdown, a terror attack… what we do to support ourselves and our families through the most harrowing moments… it’s heartbreaking—at least when a person has no choice.

I’m outspoken about my choice to prioritize my children over work when their father died. it’s a decision I would make a thousand times over—but the fact is, I HAD that choice to make. I knew I could bounce back (still working on that!) but that ability to choose is pretty rare.

And honestly parenting is some of the hardest work there is—and there’s no quitting that, is there? And it’s very hard to get fired. So how do you keep going?

We keep working because it’s the only option. Because things might improve (and often do). Because that’s what we do as humans, to survive.

But there’s another thing… I also feel motivated to keep going because I know the work I’m doing has meaning. In parenting, and as a writer who’s choosy about her clients, I know that how I spend my time actually makes a difference. So work isn’t just a distraction from a harsh reality—it’s a way of grappling with it. A way of feeling at least a modicum of power, of positive momentum, in an uncertain world.

How about you?