10 Tips for Surviving Election Week
Choose your news sources carefully and engage them responsibly.
Objectivity in media is no longer the point. Outrage, fear and alarm are, because it keeps you watching. That’s good for ad revenues but demonstrably bad for you. Keep an eye on the world of course, using sources that are as centrist and reliable as possible. Here’s a resource to help you do that. Pro tip: If you actually LOVE your news source because it so reliably confirms what you already think, it’s probably neither centrist nor all that reliable. Sorry.Go outside in the quietest, most natural place you can find. Lie on your back and watch the wind move the trees, recalling that while everything feels unprecedented, it really isn’t. Humans have been whack since the dawn of time and the Great I Am knows it. The peace that passes all understanding can be found in the waving pines and sparkles on the water if we’ll just get out there and wait for it.
Vote on November 3rd no matter how long it takes.
Be graceful and kind to others - especially to those who are being neither graceful nor kind. As Marcus Aurelius said, be unlike him who caused the injury. Like the guy who recently told me I was ruining America because I was wearing a mask in a crowded restaurant.
Wear a mask to protect others in case you have Covid and don’t know it.
Bake, and take the proceeds to your neighbors. It’s a lovely gift that will surely prompt a how are you conversation.
Find ways to care for someone else as a form of self-care. Hold doors. Smile and greet strangers with sincerity and interest. Pick up trash. Babysit. Let people merge in traffic. Keep track of these little actions and see how you feel as a result.
Talk to God about it. Just lay it all out. Unburden yourself to the worlds best therapist.
Speak life. Sure you can spend the day talking about what a dumpster fire 2020 has been, or you can talk about the gifts it has brought you. Who would you rather be around? Find the gifts and be grateful.
If you’re shopping, shop local. Small businesses are suuuuuper grateful for that right now.
Now let’s all breathe and remember this too shall pass. My go-to breath pattern for panic and upset is inhale four four, hold for five, release for eight so it three times and watch yourself unwind