Go Easy

A poem for anyone holding on

I wrote this a few years ago to calm my heart when the world felt like it had slid off the tracks. Everything felt so unhinged and each day brought new calamity.

When that all eased up, I thought “whew, at least things will calm down now.”

2026 must have heard my sign of relief and decided to remind me that I needed to hold on tight because this wild ride is just beginning.

I am rereading this one every day.

---

there’s no handbook for 2026, 

there are no hard and fast 
rules for times like these

~ you’re doing the best you can

holding things together
while the world falls apart

in this age of fear and fret
you don’t need to be perfect;
you just need to be gentle

~ with yourself and everyone else

because that’s all you
can really control, isn’t it?

yes, things might unravel a
bit more before this is
all done

 ~you might come undone as well

and it’s okay if
you do

because 

while the world
is resetting
its router

we can take turns
deciding who gets
to cry on the couch

we can take turns becoming
a balm for one another

we can take turns yelling
up into the silent sky

we can take turns
having insomnia

we can take turns being
confessionals for one another

we can take turns brushing
the tears off of each other’s face

we can take turn inviting
the butterflies to swarm us 

my love, 

don’t worry about getting
all of this right

you won’t

don’t worry about making
mistakes

you will

~ you’re doing the best you can

and 
remember 

there is only one great commandment for
enduring a year like this one 

- and that commandment is this:

go easy,
my love,
go easy

 ~ john roedel 

(Permission to use this art by the always amazing Lucy Campbell)

---

In a world gone mad come and write like mad with me!

There’s a simple belief underneath everything I do:

If you bring forth what’s inside you, it helps you.

If you don’t, it starts to work against you.

That’s it.

I’m not here to make you a better writer. Just to help you bring something honest into the light.

This isn’t just for writers. It’s for anyone who feels stuck creatively…or feels that quiet pull to explore the wilds of their own heart.

We write to stay human. To stay connected. To stop carrying things alone.

In these retreats, we slow down, get real, and write without pressure to be good or share anything we’re not ready to.

What I hear most afterward is this:

“I feel like myself again.”

If something in you has been nudging you, you can follow that here:

To book john for your event email him at john@johnroedel.com