The reticular activating system is a short, pencil-sized piece of the brain located just above where the spinal cord is attached to the brain. It acts as the gatekeeper of information between most sensory systems and the conscious mind. It decides what needs our attention and what can be safely ignored, and highlights the things in our universe that align with its priorities and concerns. Fight or flight, when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail, and all that sort of stuff.
With all that is going on in the world, it can be easy to get drawn into focusing on far away events, and to lose perspective on the many peaceful mysteries unfolding in our more immediate vicinity. At the risk of stating the obvious, recent weeks have reminded me that shifting focus and stepping away from the stimulus even just for a little bit can work small wonders in resetting the sensors towards a more positive heading.