Feeling Powerless in the Current World
A lot of friends and clients are concerned and conflicted with current headlines. To be honest I don’t blame them! It does feel like the world is on fire. I’m hearing thoughts like “I’m deeply disturbed by what’s happening in the world. I want to protest, I want to do something, but does it even matter? What can I do?”
When world events swirl around us, especially dramatic or frightening ones, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, frozen, or powerless. Many of us don’t have the time, resources, or energy to engage in activism the way we think we should. That can leave us feeling stuck and ashamed—like we’re failing some moral test. Especially when we see the unfortunate events around brave, peaceful protesters in many countries.
So the question becomes–if I can’t change the world directly, should I be doing anything at all? I think yes, but maybe not in the way you think.
Action, and Something Deeper
By all means, engage in protest, boycott, donation, or advocacy if that feels right and sustainable for you. That matters. It’s paved the way for action and change for hundreds of years already.
But there is another form of contribution that often gets overlooked, and it can be just as powerful. Use what’s happening in the world and how it affects you emotionally as an opportunity for deeper discovery, in yourself and in your relationships.
This kind of work won’t make headlines. No one may applaud it. But what if the most important thing happening at the moment is the human species evolving in new ways? The emergence of a more evolved, conscious version of yourself may be the most meaningful contribution you can make.
Taking Back Projections
When the world gets intense, certain inner dynamics become clearer- more blatant. Strong reactions are revealing.
This is an invitation to take back our projections. When something disturbs us deeply, we often project fear, anger, blame, or catastrophe outward. When we pause and look inward, we may discover something transformative that changes how we show up everywhere.
A Personal Example
Street violence is a visceral trigger for me. Detention, displacement, and persecution echo my family’s history in eastern Europe. That resonance pulls up fear, anger, and catastrophic thinking in me almost automatically. When I let myself get swept up in that emotional storm, I lose agency.
I know there is more I can do. I can tell the truth: I am scared. I am sad. Just this last weekend, I found myself dropping into an intensity of trauma I didn’t know I had.
As I own that fear inside myself—rather than projecting it outward—it softens. It becomes compassion. I can feel the fear in those being harmed, and those doing the harm. Not to excuse or explain—but to understand the dynamic.
That restless, impatient feeling—the urge to “do something now”—often comes from unprocessed fear and helplessness. When I meet that honestly for myself, something shifts.
Why This Matters Collectively
There’s an old saying: we get the leaders we deserve.
Leaders–whether forceful or passive–often rise by carrying the projections a society hasn’t owned. When fear, rage, and helplessness remain unconscious in the collective, they get expressed through the clumsy or corrupt use of power, and, ultimately, violence.
But when individuals begin owning their projections, meeting their fear consciously, we respond to a more mature kind of leadership. Because we are living a more mature form of self-expression. I believe this matters more than we realize.
When there is a mass pulse of unowned projections, history bends in destructive ways. But when those projections are owned, it elevates the cultural mindset.
The Quiet Way Forward
What truly creates change is not just what happens in the world, but the inner viewpoint from which the world is experienced—by you, and me, right now.
My invitation is to be part of that shift. To engage where you can, but also to grow where you are. That work counts. Even if no one sees it.
Be well,
David Lesser