OK I know there is already a mental health thread. This thread is specifically to focus on maintaining as even a keel as possible starting today, October 26, 2024, through Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
I am posting this to keep myself accountable and invite others to join me.
My goals:
Meditate for at least 10 minutes every morning. If you are not an experienced meditator, there are plenty of guided meditations available online. Here’s a link if you need one: https://youtu.be/ZToicYcHIOU?si=WlLYXogq8fUWsKAk
Exercise every day. This can take many different forms. My intention is to run every other day, and on my non-run days to walk 45 minutes in the morning. Hopefully will also work out every day but that’s a bonus.
Do something selfless for someone every day. This can be really small or big, but I find that when I’m actively looking for opportunities to be useful to other people the situations are all around me. For me I’m excluding people I love from this goal - I already do stuff for my wife and kids all the time and I get my own enjoyment from it, so I’m not counting that. Ideally I’m of service to a stranger, or even somebody I don’t like or find annoying.
If there are other things you do to keep yourself stable, please feel free to add them. Worst case this thread just ends up being me posting about my daily measures to keep from completely freaking out, and that would be fine too.
lately i have been feeling an extreme sense of dread and it’s probably the election. dictator day1, stooges in place to enable full fascism, military run camps for the mass deportation, you all know the agenda. thinking about maybe switching either breakfast or lunch to oatmeal, that’ll probably solve it
For me, it helps to break things down into smaller pieces. One day at a time as much as possible. But for sure I’m not thinking about what’s next until it comes.
That’s because if they lose, they’ll just have to deal with a normal Democrat for president. If we lose, it’s guaranteed 4 years of unprecedented chaos and fuckery with who knows where we come out on the other side
I’m not sure that’s true. I’m pretty sure plenty of them feel like if Trump loses, gangs of immigrants are going to kill them. They will then simultaneously take their jobs and live off of the welfare state.
The way I minimize my existential dread is to work for local candidates.
When your district is <30k voters, everything you do has an actual, material impact.
School board elections are the ant-fascism front lines and it feels awesome to know that each person you talk to could actually be the deciding vote in these small races.
I’ve added ice baths/plunges to my routine and found them to be quite rejuvenating–physically and spiritually. When you’re sitting in a tub of bone-chilling freezing cold water, life’s external concerns quickly evaporate.
I will be driving most of election day. I just voted. I hope to listen to a book on tape and not the car radio. When I get home, I plan on taking a five mile walk and going to sleep around 9 pm. When I wake up in the middle of the night (which I always do, because the cat walks on me), I will check the results.
Until then I hope to take long walks/hikes whenever possible, and listen to Bach and Miles Davis.
I am feeling a tad more optimistic than a couple weeks ago, but I already filled out my electoral map prediction.
