Sitting in the audience, listening to these professionals in perfect harmony, brought me back to my days in the band. I wasn't good, it was mandatory, and I played the trombone. I desperately wanted to quit. We couldn't have backpacks in school, so I walked through the halls lugging my trombone in my right hand and books under my left armpit. This made me a perfect target for a bully or two to come up behind me and smack the books out from under me.
No reputable financial advisor would suggest risking your entire life savings on a single stock-like the old saying, Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Still, many people who might follow this financial advice often ignore it when it comes to their daily lives: their self-esteem may depend on whether they get promoted to VP at work, or their success as a parent is tied to their child getting into an Ivy League college or making the varsity football team;
Even when our own lives are relatively stable, constant exposure to war, political unrest, climate crises, and humanitarian suffering activates the brain's threat system. The nervous system is not designed to distinguish between danger that is physically nearby and danger that is emotionally vivid or repeatedly witnessed. Over time, this creates chronic vigilance. When people observe patterns of harm, exclusion, or dehumanization playing out publicly, the body registers risk.
