The world has been a lot.

Most of us don’t need that explained. We feel it in our bodies before we can put words to it. A low hum of urgency, fatigue, grief, and concern runs beneath our days. Political division. Climate anxiety. Systems that are crumbling. Lack of accountability. People displaced. Children vulnerable. A steady stream of news makes it hard to know where to focus… or whether what we’re doing really matters.

When the world feels like this, it’s easy to believe that courage must look big and visible. That responding well means doing something dramatic. That if we were really paying attention, we would be doing more.

I get hooked by that sometimes. I find myself wondering whether what I’m doing even matters… whether it’s enough.

But across spiritual traditions, we hear the same quiet wisdom: begin where your feet are.

The Tao Te Ching tells us a journey of a thousand miles begins beneath our feet.
Zen teaching says, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”
Jewish tradition reminds us to repair what is in our reach.
Quakers speak of proceeding as the way opens.
Buddhists encourage tending the suffering we can touch.

This wisdom resists comparison.

And it echoes the words of one of my favorite poems by David Whyte, Start Close In:

Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in…

So often, we are looking ahead to the second or third step. We want clarity. We want certainty. We want to know it will work. But perhaps courage begins under our own feet.

Because many of us carry an image of what courage is supposed to look like, especially in times like these, we imagine it must be loud, public, and heroic. But historian Heather Cox Richardson offers another view. Reflecting on her research, she writes that heroism is not about perfection or spectacle. It is “regular, flawed human beings choosing to put others before themselves, even at great cost, even if no one will ever know.”

That kind of courage is available to all of us.

I struggle with this myself. When systems feel unstable or unjust, I’ve wondered whether courage has to look like public protest, loud resistance, visible defiance. When that wasn’t where I felt called or equipped, I wondered if I was falling short.

I’m an introvert. I’m highly sensitive to noise and intensity. I process deeply and slowly. Large, public action isn’t where I’m most grounded or effective. For a long time, I worried that meant I wasn’t doing enough.

Over time, I’ve come to understand that faithfulness doesn’t require sameness. The question is not, Are you doing the most visible thing? but Are you doing the most authentic thing for you?

For me, beginning close in has looked like writing letters. Creating spaces where people can tell the truth about their lives. Holding small groups where grief and hope sit side by side. Supporting organizations doing steady, unglamorous work for justice. Celebrating weddings. Marking losses. Helping people reconnect with their own humanity.

These are not heroic gestures.

They are small steps… but they are the steps closest to me. They are where my gifts meet the world’s ache in this moment. I’ve come to trust that this, too, is how justice takes shape.

So I wonder:

Where is “close in” in your life right now?

What is the small step that feels like yours to take?

You don’t have to take the second step or the third.
You don’t have to know where it all leads.

You only have to begin where your feet are.

–

If you find yourself wrestling with these questions ~ how to respond, how to begin, how to stay grounded in a world that feels overwhelming ~ you don’t have to sort it out alone. I offer spiritual direction and small, intentional spaces for reflection where you can listen for what is yours to do, in your own way, at your own pace. If that kind of companionship would be supportive, I would love to connect.

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Kristabeth Atwood is a spiritual director, writer, and celebrant who creates spaces for reflection, connection, and meaning in life’s transitions. You can reach out to learn more or schedule a discernment session with Kristabeth.