With so much violence and unrest in the world, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. When this happens to me, I step away from the newsfeed and head outside to stretch my legs. To breathe fresh air deep into my lungs.

I took this photo walking back from my mailbox the other day. It’s a calm upstream view of the steady river that feeds so many.

This wild river persists, following the course it has patiently carved through walls of stubborn granite to forge a sixty-mile canyon. It continues on, despite everything happening around us. Although we’re each a mere droplet in the course of history, the river reminds us that how and where we choose to carve our course can make a difference. There is power and momentum — the force of a mighty river behind us — when even some of the tiny droplets flow together in a positive direction.