Stepping Off the Carousel: Understanding the Spiral of Overwhelm

In the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins, there is a magical moment when Mary and Bert step into a sidewalk painting and find themselves on a merry-go-round. The music plays, the horses circle, and everything feels charming. Suddenly, to add to the whimsy, the horses start to leave the carousel and move across the countryside.

I often think about that scene when I get overwhelmed.

When fear or pressure builds, our minds can act like a carousel. We go around the same thoughts, worries, and predictions of what could go wrong. We spin faster, thinking we are making progress, until we feel dizzy, stuck, and sure there is no way off.

But what if each horse on that carousel represented a step?

A thought.

A trigger.

A sensation in the body.

A story we start telling ourselves.

Instead of waiting until we break down, we can slow things down and start to notice the pattern:

What happens first?

Which horse do I climb onto automatically?

Which thought pulls me back into the loop?

Becoming aware is like the moment a horse comes loose from the pole.

And then comes the choice:

Do I keep circling… or do I let this step carry me off the ride?

Getting out of the cycle does not take force. It takes noticing what is happening. We can spot the pattern that leads to overwhelm, name each step with curiosity, and gently guide ourselves in a new direction, one step at a time.

We don’t have to smash the carousel of our mind.

We just need to notice when we have gotten on and choose a horse that takes us out of the circle instead of around it.

Next time the carousel starts spinning, which horse will you notice first? Will you stay on it, or let it take you somewhere new?

Once you can see the pattern, you are no longer stuck on the ride.

You are the one choosing which horse to take and where it leads. 

Before your next spiral of overwhelm, can you slow things down enough to name the first step in your pattern and choose, on purpose, whether to keep spinning or step off the ride?  If you’ve been riding the same carousel and are ready to understand your pattern instead of just enduring it, let’s work together to distinguish the sequence and create real awareness.

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