Tap Roots, Surface Roots & Leaves

Spend a few minutes reflecting, writing, sketching, or making something with your hands.
 
Tap Roots:  Values
What values are grounding you right now?
 
You might try:
Writing a short list, circling the ones that feel most steady.
Drawing a single word large on the page and letting lines, shapes, or marks grow from it.
 
Surface Roots:  Actions
What small, realistic actions help you live those values where you are?
 
You might try:
Sketching a simple map of your week and noting where care or connection already shows up.
Making a small collage from scraps, receipts, packaging, or paper you have nearby, letting each piece represent an action you can take.
 
Leaves:  What Can Rest
What habits, expectations, or distractions can you set down to meet this moment more clearly?
What no longer serves this moment, even if it once did?
 
You might try:
Writing these down, then crossing them out, tearing the paper, or cutting the words away.
Layering over them with color, texture, or pattern as a way of letting them soften or fade.

If you’re looking for a starting point, here’s one example of how these ideas can take shape.
 
Tap Roots
 
Care
Fairness
Curiosity
Community
Accountability
 
Surface Roots

• Shop small, local or secondhand when you can. Support local businesses and mutual aid efforts. Choose where you spend your money in ways that reflect your values
• Read books, essays, and histories that weren’t taught to you. Stay informed beyond headlines. Use the library—it’s free, public, and built for shared access
• Take group chats offline and spend time together in person. Get to know your neighbors and the people who share your space
• Send a note of appreciation to someone doing quiet, necessary work.

Leaves

• Doom-scrolling that leaves you overwhelmed and frozen
• The pressure to be perfectly informed or endlessly productive
• The idea that resistance has to look loud to be meaningful

You might try:
Turning this list into a small visual study. 
Stack, layer, or repeat words. Use simple marks. 
Cut, paste, stitch, or redraw. 
Let the process be more important than the outcome.
 
Find the places where your actions mirror your values. 
 
Start there.