01/31/2026
This week our hearts are heavy. The killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis this past weekend—the second such killing of a U.S. citizen this month—has left our country (and the world) reeling. Alex was an ICU nurse, a healer, someone who dedicated his life to caring for others in their most vulnerable moments.
The circumstances of his death, captured on video and contradicting official accounts, are deeply disturbing. Our hearts go out to Alex’s family, friends, and all who knew him, and to the family of Renee Good, killed just weeks earlier.
We share this not to add to the weight of what you may already be carrying, but to acknowledge it. We are awake. We are witnessing. We see what is happening in our community and in the wider world. And we believe that in times like these, the work we do together—exploring how to stay present, how to understand our bodies’ responses, how to hold both grief and hope—is not a retreat from reality. It is essential to engage with it.
This week’s piece from Goddess Guide and iLumn8 Partner Robyn Alley-Hay feels especially resonant right now. Following up on our recent exploration of hope as a nervous system skill, Robyn takes us deeper into understanding despair—not as something to overcome or fix, but as an intelligent response from our bodies that deserves our attention and compassion.
In a world that constantly demands we “stay positive,” Robyn offers us permission to be real. To feel what we feel. To understand that despair, anger, and grief aren’t signs of weakness—they’re signs that we’re paying attention to what matters.
Our work here—offering tools for emotional, spiritual, and physical health—is not about bypassing the reality of violence, injustice, and loss. It’s about developing the capacity to stay present with it, to respond rather than collapse, to maintain our humanity in the face of inhumanity. This is how we survive. This is how we resist. This is how we care for ourselves and each other so we can continue to show up for the world that needs us.
READ Robyns full piece here https://ilumn8.life/library/when-despair-makes-sense/
or in IG click link in BIO go to the Library.
