Look for Where the Dust Dances

Lessons from a dim, shaky elevator in the former USSR

Twenty-plus years ago, I spent about a month in a post soviet bloc country in Central Asia.

I was privileged to stay on the 7th floor* in an old soviet bloc style apartment building with local hosts. I was there to offer leadership training for a nonprofit organization. It was such a joy to get to stay with new local friends.

After 30 hours of travel, one of my hosts and I stepped into a tiny closet of an elevator that barely fit 3 people. The door closed and left us in darkness, save the thin shaft of light that found its way intermittently through the cracked doors.

None of the buttons worked from inside the elevator. You had to call up to the floor where you were going and ask someone to call the elevator, which also doubled as a building toilet for some residents.

The elevator shuddered and shook as it screeched its way up, floor by floor.

Did I mention the power could go off at any time?

Most people took the stairs. But being on one leg and crutches, stairs were not always an option for me.

Often I was alone in the clanging tin latrine as it ferried me up and down the floors.

Suffice it to say, that elevator greatly enhanced my prayer life.

It taught me to look for the light flickering past. To watch for the dust that danced in the light beams and count the passing floors.

Letting my imagination run away with me? Hard pass. Really not helpful.

I got to decide where I placed my attention, where I focused my gaze.

Even in a situation I had next to no control, I could still choose my focus.

Life Can Feel a Lot Like a Shaky Elevator—Stopping to See Beauty Helps.

I’ve spent significant time in areas of the world that had authoritarian governments or that were still in the final throes of civil war.

I’ve lived in places where free speech was censored, women were not allowed education or to make decisions except with male approval, gasoline was over $10 USD/L, food was scarce, borders were closed, and medical care was nonexistent because there was 1 medical doctor 8 hours away on washed out rebel-controlled roads for thousands of people.

I am deeply concerned by many of the patterns I see emerging around me right now. But I am not surprised by them— I’ve seen them before.

In a world swirling with things we cannot control, here are some things we can.

• Stop the doom scroll. It is not helpful. If you are a research junkie like myself, there is an avalanche of media activity right now custom-made to exhaust, enrage and distract you. Pick your sources wisely. Dr. Google is not always your friend.

• Do not consume to the point of emotional overwhelm. Recognize when you are reaching your limit and turn it off.

  • Take it from me- after living 7 years in a conflict zone, you have to be able to turn it off. I’d stare into my candle flame each night and reflect on how NO amount of darkness could put out even the smallest spark of light.

• When we live in overwhelm, we are fundamentally disconnected from ourselves. Wonder is a tool to reconnect to our center.

• Make a list. What are the things you can take action on right now. Where do you have power? Perhaps you can’t move to a new state, but can you rearrange a room? Maybe you don’t have energy to rearrange a room, but can you organize a drawer?

• Keep looking for those moments of wonder. There will be many voices in your world who want you living inside their imagination, trapped in their narrative. You have power to decline those invitations.

Your rickety elevator could be an unexpected diagnosis, or a lost job. A loved one who is struggling. A dream that didn’t turn out the way you imagined. A mental health crisis. Or maybe you too are deeply concerned and directly affected by the current events unfolding around you.

Wonder and beauty are resistance to the things that try to diminish our dreams and weaken our worth.

Kindness and hope are both subversive acts. Don’t let the big things you cannot do stop you from the small, everyday acts of compassion and bravery you can.

Loving the person in front of you—That matters. More than you know. Now more than ever.

You don’t have to do everything. Just the next right thing.

As always, friends, this is a safe place to be who you are. You are welcome here.

Courage friends. Wonder awaits.

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*Floor number changed