Why Everything Feels Loud Right Now (And Why That Matters)
By now, you may have noticed it.
Conversations feel sharper.
News cycles feel relentless.
Even neutral decisions carry more weight than they used to.
Many women tell me they feel edgy, tired, distracted, or strangely numb, even when nothing in their personal lives looks “wrong.”
This isn’t a coincidence.
And it isn’t a weakness.
It’s your nervous system responding to sustained uncertainty.
When the world feels unpredictable, the body doesn’t interpret that as “information.”
It interprets it as a potential threat.
And when that threat doesn’t resolve quickly, the system stays on alert.
Why Everything Feels Louder
Human nervous systems are wired to track safety through patterns, predictability, and signals of control.
Extended political unrest, social division, economic instability, and constant exposure to breaking news disrupt those signals.
Even if you aren’t glued to headlines, your system still absorbs:
tone
urgency
emotional charge
social tension
This is why many women notice:
difficulty resting
irritability or emotional reactivity
trouble concentrating
urges to overwork, numb out, or disengage completely
None of this means you’re failing to cope.
It means your system is doing exactly what it was designed to do.
This Isn’t About Politics
It’s important to name this clearly.
This conversation isn’t about opinions, sides, or solutions.
It’s about impact.
Your nervous system doesn’t care where uncertainty comes from.
It only registers that something feels unstable.
Psychology Today notes that trying to relax can actually make you more anxious, because it reinforces the belief that you have to do something to feel okay.
When uncertainty becomes ambient, regulation becomes essential.
Why “Just Ignore It” Doesn’t Work
Many women try to cope by:
avoiding news altogether
forcing positivity
staying busy
pushing through fatigue
While these strategies can help temporarily, they don’t teach the nervous system how to return to safety.
Avoidance doesn’t create regulation.
Neither does over-functioning.
What helps instead is orientation.
I want to say this honestly, not as a coach, but as a woman living inside the same uncertainty. I’ve noticed it in myself too: the way my nervous system stays alert, the way rest feels harder to access, the way hope can feel farther away than usual.
When the world feels unstable, my body wants certainty, productivity, and control. And when that doesn’t work, it can slide into discouragement. Naming this has helped me remember that what I’m feeling isn’t failure. It’s a nervous system responding to prolonged stress.
Orientation Before Action
In nervous system terms, orientation means:
noticing where you are
noticing what is actually happening right now
distinguishing between perceived threat and present safety
This is where many women get tripped up.
They believe that pausing means disengaging or giving up.
It doesn’t.
Pausing is how the system gathers information so it can respond, not react.
What Horses Model Beautifully
This is one of the reasons equine-assisted work is so powerful during times of uncertainty.
When something shifts in a herd, horses don’t rush forward.
They pause.
They orient.
They assess safety before moving again.
They don’t interpret waiting as weakness.
They don’t confuse stillness with failure.
They regulate first, then act.
This is the skill midlife quietly asks humans to learn.
If You’re Feeling This Right Now
If you’ve noticed yourself feeling more reactive, tired, or guarded lately, let this land:
You’re not broken.
You’re responding to sustained uncertainty.
Before clarity comes steadiness.
Before momentum comes regulation.
You don’t need to decide anything yet.
This is exactly the kind of work we’ll do at the BRAVE in the Desert Retreat — slowing the system enough to hear what’s actually true beneath urgency.
It’s not about fixing.
It’s about learning how to stand steady when the world doesn’t feel that way.
