I’m reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Her thesis is we all have hidden gifts. Do we have the courage to bring them forth into the world? The directive/advice is not to make something good but to make something (period). Start small. Make a new recipe. Write a bad poem. Participate in Nanowrimo and have a book finished by month’s end. If still stuck, seek out your nearest food bank and volunteer. We are blessed even as we are wallowing in shock and misery. Helping others is the blessing tax we pay to walk this earth is how I like to view it sometimes.
I think the best advice I've heard is to just listen to your thoughts. Most of us have stuff running through our brains all day. As I type this, I'm wondering if it's too wordy. If my cadence sounds good in my head. Now I'm trying to just get out of my head and be real. I'll use writing as an example, because we're here:
15 minutes before I saw this, I was wondering about an old friend of mine and how he's doing. We haven't connected in a long time; I didn't even has his phone number. It reminds me of the importance of connection.
Now I have 2 ideas to work from. I can write about getting out of my head and being authentic. In work, in personal life, here on Substack.
Or I can write about the importance of connection. About how and when to reconnect with people. Or, how often to connect with them. How it's going for me, as a person who tends to isolate, etc.
Lots of ideas from my brain. Brains like to ramble. Let them ramble a bit and see what comes up. You'll never know who needs to hear it unless you create something with it.
PS: This works for just about anything creative. My garage is packed too full. How do I fix it? Brainstorm out loud, then take before and after pictures of what you did.
My kids love perler beads. I can post their projects and their inspiration. See! My brain is crazy! I bet yours is too.
Chris, thank you for this post. I started to read the comments, and was somewhat surprised by the (dare I say "rabid"?) Trump supporter. I'm sorry your page has been hijacked to become yet another platform for the far right. Once the sadness and fear and anger and disbelief lifts a little - I'm going to go make something. Supporting my daughter - a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a cancer patient who is on Medicaid because she's unable to work fulll-time - is my version of helping someone. And for now, that's enough. Thank you again.
This was a repudiation of the leftist agenda. The American people care about peace, security and economic prosperity and that was reflected resoundingly yesterday in the presidential and congressional races. Everyone, do yourself a favor and stop engaging with the fear porn. Trump was President once and we were fine, and we will be more peaceful and prosperous this time around.
Time to rethink the way you think as opposed to claiming that over 50 percent of the country are "fascists". Maybe you are the problem
Are you crazy? What about my insurance? The GOP wants to get rid of the ACA. And as flawed as it is it's the only thing standing between me and medical bankruptcy. Not to mention he is grossly unqualified and has lost the last marble he had. No one is claiming half the country is fascist, just that you guys voted for a fascist.
Have you ever heard of "The boy who cried wolf"? Claiming that Trump is Hitler or a fascist isn't affecting anyone outside the echo chamber. Trump isn't touching Social Security, Abortion or your health insurance. He actually ran and won as a centrist ... the Democrat party was too busy navel gazing and pandering to the radicals in their base to effectively reach the middle.
Again, without introspection, the left is lost. If they can go back to the party of Clinton or even early Obama the Democrats can reclaim the independents and blue collar workers they have lost over the past 10 years.
Yeah, the fact that they have demonized every single republican candidate since the turn of the century is ridiculous. They even did it to Mit Romney, the most straight and narrow milquetoast candidate ever to run for President
Wow so in your own analogy; Trump is a dangerous wolf (wannabe dictator or incompetent conman), and none of the townspeople (you and other trump voters), believed thats what he was, because the boy (Democrats & the left) had hysterically over reacted to and/or lied about wolves (facists) before, and the boy, the sheep and the townspeople were all doomed and destroyed by the wolf.
That's literally what I just said. I'm not sure I'm the one with the reading comprehension issue. I guess you also don't think through your analogies very much.
I think what we're worried about in terms of facism are things like the remarks Trump has made such as "Put me in office and you'll never have to vote again!" I also don't believe that Trump will help the economy. None of the top economists believe he will, and I'm one of those people inclined to trust the experts. But time will tell I guess. And your note about how "we were fine" makes me think that you are likely not a woman (who lost her bodily autonomy thanks to the actions of Trump in the first go-round).
Not here to argue about abortion. I am personally pro-life, but have become agnostic if certain people want to end their children's lives.
Again, the cries of fascism ring hollow and don't reach anyone outside "the bubble" ... remember when Trump was supposed to start a nuclear war, lock Hillary up and put people in camps last time? The accusations that he's going to be a dictator are so outlandish, most of the country laughs at them. Just accept that the left went too far, and that if it wants to win back independents and moderate Dems/Republicans they need to move back to the center. Step #1 is to stop sensationalizing EVERYTHING and turning the dial down from 11 back to 3.
I agree that the left has a lot of work to do. I'm curious what you think Trump meant by saying we'll never have to vote again? What about his comments about using the military against US citizens who disagree with him? What did he mean by saying he wants to "restore America to the True Americans"? I'm not sensationalizing-- I'm quoting the man himself.
I'm sure you're aware of all the ways that abortion bans affect women, fertility and IVF, healthcare, and miscarriage care in ways that reach way beyond abortion.
What I think is that Trump talks off the cuff says a lot of s***. If you've watched Trump, you know that he should be taken seriously but not literally.
The problem is that the media will very often latch on to anything he says and either blow it out of proportion or manipulate it. Like saying Liz Cheney should be given a gun and sent to fight in a war her and her father support (Oh no, Trump said she should be put in front of a firing squad!!) Or when he was talking to Michigan car executives about the economic Blood Bath there would be if Biden was reelected (Oh no, he is threatening violence!!). There is only so many times one can go to the well of hysteria before people run out of outrage.
The most damning thing is that the man is 78 years old and was already President. We don't have to speculate about what he will do, he's already been in office and has been in public life for over 50 years.
Now I'm not expecting everyone to like his policies or his personality. But the sensationalism and latching onto every single thing he says (whether a direct quote or misconstrued) is a mistake that the left hasn't learned to avoid.
Imagine taking direct quotes from someone at face value.
There were Germans in the Weimar Republic who thought Hitler was just 'saying a lot of s***' too.
Why would you vote for someone who 'jokes' or 's*** posts' about being a dictator? Why is that funny? Why would you take that risk no matter how small?
Yes the left are f******** who label everyone they disagree with an -ist or -phobe. A stopped clock is still correct twice a day.
Him being in office before means very little. He lives for campaigning, was narcissistic enough to believe he would win re-election easily, has actually planned this time to keep his promise to 'drain the swamp' and replace all the people responsible for checks and balances with acolytes, and is facing the potential of significant jail time when no longer president.
You are oblivious to his historical parallels and psychiatric make-up.
He's either an easily manipulated dimwitted conman who's about to be reamed by every authoritarian dictator in the world, or he's about to join them.
Is Trump 'the boy who cried wolf', or the wolf? Now thanks to you we all have to find out.
You can thank me when you are living in more economic prosperity, have more security in your community (assuming you don't live in a blue "defund the police area") and we have world peace
We really weren't fine. We lost rights to health and healthcare. Covid ravaged us in ways it didn't have to. Our national security apparatus was decimated and we cozied up to dictators. And that was with "adults in the room". This time around, those adults are gone.
Everyone is fully on board for the Project 2025 agenda.
His plans will trash to economy (tariffs! Mass deportations!) and create unimaginable cruelty.
Your hope is that he's lying about what he wants to do, which is a choice, but not one I'm relying on.
By cozying up to dictators, did you mean that we had world peace and the Abraham Accords? Remember, Russia invaded Ukraine under both Obama and Biden but not under Trump. He is a strong man and our enemies are afraid of him.
Covid was sad, but the death and destruction we saw from 2020-2022 had more to do with how fat and unhealthy our population is more than having enough tests. Remember, we were at the forefront of developing the vaccine.
Trump is a businessman and knows how to win economically, which we saw under the first 3 years of his first Admin. Real wages were up 15% against inflation during his tenure which is the absolute test of economic prosperity. Contrast that against the past 4 years of out of control spending and crazy inflation.
You don't have to like Trump, but please stop catastrophizing everything.
If you think Trump is a good businessman, you are woefully misinformed. He has failed properties all over the world, he has declared bankruptcy more than once and he doesn't pay people who work for him.
That's strange, since there are still over 20,000 employees that work for his companies globally. Is your assertion that he is forcing them to work for free?
You've proved that he doesn't pay any of his 20,000 employees?
A billionaire businessman having legal disputes over wages is nothing new. Some valid, some non-valid. I'm assuming that all were either dismissed or settled in court.
You are so far down a rabbit hole that you fail to see the big picture of what happened yesterday. But I can't make you understand; I can only show you the door of rationality and common sense.
January 6, 2021. That was not a figment of our imagination, and Trump did nothing to stop it. In fact he did everything to encourage it.
if that's not enough to concern you or anyone, then that is deeply concerning to me.
Trump is a master con man, and it saddens me to see that half the country has fallen for his scam, which is hidden under a cloak of "peace, security, and economic prosperity." The man is only interested in stripping down America, selling it off for parts, pocketing profit, and elevating his ego. You might try reading Sarah Kendzior here on Substack. Very educational.
More leftist platitudes, and no actual help to Americans as the last 4 years have demonstrated.
But don't worry, Trump is on his way to actually help the middle class and make life better, safer and more affordable. Democracy, ironically, is now in safer hands with competent (and less punitive) leadership and the voice of the people spoke loudly on November 5th.
I thought I could come here and stir up some dormant synapses in a few leftists' brains. It has proven much more difficult than I anticipated.
To all the people who think some of us are over reacting: You do realize it his Trump's own words that disturb us, not some second hand crap. It's who he hangs around with. It's who he says he admires. If he's so great at everything how it that he needs constant excuses for what he says?
Writing from Canada where many of us are horrified, angry, saddened, frightened and in shock - not just for friends and family that live in the US but for the world given the outsized role that America plays on the global stage. I actually thought back to your post from just the other day and thought maybe what I would do is start making signs - maybe just on cardboard - and posting them on the fencing that our local government has put up to displace homeless people with nowhere else to go. Not necessarily signs of protest but signs of solidarity and a reminder that despite efforts to render those with less voiceless and invisible we will continue to fight to lift up their voices and make sure that they are not forgotten. In solidarity. See you next week.
Thanks Chris, you are definitely one I want to listen to about moving forward. I would love to read a separate Substack from you in leadership of how we build and grow together and come together. I feel like the WDS moments I experienced are for this time in bridging something in U.S. And world, even if we can't quite understand what it is or could look like, especially today. Thank you for sharing your honest experience. Thank you for being someone I would want to know how he goes about this.
Many thanks for all your posts. This is what I received in my journal this morning:
Post-election Blues
What is mine to do?
Mourn with my people, and heal, while nurturing self and others. No matter who voted for whom, we all suffer or reap the consequences.
Attitude, personal attitude is, as it always has been, the only lever we truly control.
Stay strongly focused on the good, on the light you want to see and feel. It is only by lifting one another up that we can rise once more. This is what is meant by turning the other cheek. Turn toward that which you want to see, feel, and believe in this world, if you want to live it in this lifetime.
Others might have concrete steps to take and follow. Be open to receiving and sharing your intuition with others, asking that they share theirs in return.
Knitting our country, our brothers and sisters together is, or was traditionally speaking, “women's work.”
Resilience needs strengthening and tending.
Love is a force greater than fear. Tap into your reserves. Keep one another in your heart and in your life.
Be brave.
That's my share for today. Thank you for the space to share.
Chris - Once again you summed it up. Thank you. I will try to make something and help someone today. Difficult b/c I feel a mix of anger, fear, and disappointment.
I don't know about where you are but it could be as simple as seeing if there is a Food Bank or Food Pantry (we have some that operate like little free libraries)/Community Fridge you could leave some items at. I know here in Canada the demand at food banks is through the roof with many people coming for the first time.
It was definitely a repudiation of the leftist agenda, all the lawfare that the leftists engaged in, the " peaceful but fiery rallies" that the BLM and antics engaged in throughout the country. The fact that everything has gone up and people lost lucrative jobs in the gas and oil industry. Almost forgot, the trying to jail parents from engaging with school boards when their daughters were raped.
Wow. Way to open the door for all kinds of reaction that will be quite antithetical to mental health. Not sure of this is the kind of activism you mean to practice with this thing, Chris. Might have been better to practice it elsewhere rather than poking the bear that many people probably find YOMH a pleasant reprieve from. Rather than tee up with anything incorporating "us" and "them", I'd suggest (and this goes for those on both "sides") acknowledging the simple fact that every individual you meet has a unique perspective. There's an opportunity to see similarities just as much as differences.
I agree. I've seen enough political bickering to last a lifetime! Always looked forward to these newsletters and the comments to help me find new ways to navigate my mental health. But look at these comments...same as you see on X and Reddit and everywhere else. Could've easily address anyone's concerns/fears without phrasing in a way that would spark yet more debate. Disappointed in this.
I love this! I’ve been saying “make something, help someone” to myself pretty much every day since you first posted it. It’s so helpful. Sometimes “make something” is cooking something instead of going for the processed food, and that leads right into helping someone — me and my family. Thank you!
I didn't read the post :-) but I did come to the same conclusion, months ago, a lifetime ago :-) may God bless the emperor and keep him far away... There's so many things I could bring home and make myself miserable with, and choosing not to do so, has been a transformative time in my life.
Doesn't mean I do it well, but turning off certain aspects of social media have gone a long way I'm a happier person.
I'm as more or more caring than I used to be, because I have the emotional energy to help, and as you've said taking the action is better than waiting for feelings to resolve to take action to help others :)
"The two-part solution is: when you’re not sure what to do, make something and help someone. That’s it!"
This line got me too. I love it.
This sounds like excellent advice.
Much more productive than trying to talk to people who refuse to listen.
I'm struggling to work out what to make?
Or who to help? Or how to help?
How do I get ideas?
I’m reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Her thesis is we all have hidden gifts. Do we have the courage to bring them forth into the world? The directive/advice is not to make something good but to make something (period). Start small. Make a new recipe. Write a bad poem. Participate in Nanowrimo and have a book finished by month’s end. If still stuck, seek out your nearest food bank and volunteer. We are blessed even as we are wallowing in shock and misery. Helping others is the blessing tax we pay to walk this earth is how I like to view it sometimes.
I think the best advice I've heard is to just listen to your thoughts. Most of us have stuff running through our brains all day. As I type this, I'm wondering if it's too wordy. If my cadence sounds good in my head. Now I'm trying to just get out of my head and be real. I'll use writing as an example, because we're here:
15 minutes before I saw this, I was wondering about an old friend of mine and how he's doing. We haven't connected in a long time; I didn't even has his phone number. It reminds me of the importance of connection.
Now I have 2 ideas to work from. I can write about getting out of my head and being authentic. In work, in personal life, here on Substack.
Or I can write about the importance of connection. About how and when to reconnect with people. Or, how often to connect with them. How it's going for me, as a person who tends to isolate, etc.
Lots of ideas from my brain. Brains like to ramble. Let them ramble a bit and see what comes up. You'll never know who needs to hear it unless you create something with it.
PS: This works for just about anything creative. My garage is packed too full. How do I fix it? Brainstorm out loud, then take before and after pictures of what you did.
My kids love perler beads. I can post their projects and their inspiration. See! My brain is crazy! I bet yours is too.
Thanks Justin ❤️
Chris, thank you for this post. I started to read the comments, and was somewhat surprised by the (dare I say "rabid"?) Trump supporter. I'm sorry your page has been hijacked to become yet another platform for the far right. Once the sadness and fear and anger and disbelief lifts a little - I'm going to go make something. Supporting my daughter - a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a cancer patient who is on Medicaid because she's unable to work fulll-time - is my version of helping someone. And for now, that's enough. Thank you again.
This was a repudiation of the leftist agenda. The American people care about peace, security and economic prosperity and that was reflected resoundingly yesterday in the presidential and congressional races. Everyone, do yourself a favor and stop engaging with the fear porn. Trump was President once and we were fine, and we will be more peaceful and prosperous this time around.
Time to rethink the way you think as opposed to claiming that over 50 percent of the country are "fascists". Maybe you are the problem
Are you crazy? What about my insurance? The GOP wants to get rid of the ACA. And as flawed as it is it's the only thing standing between me and medical bankruptcy. Not to mention he is grossly unqualified and has lost the last marble he had. No one is claiming half the country is fascist, just that you guys voted for a fascist.
Have you ever heard of "The boy who cried wolf"? Claiming that Trump is Hitler or a fascist isn't affecting anyone outside the echo chamber. Trump isn't touching Social Security, Abortion or your health insurance. He actually ran and won as a centrist ... the Democrat party was too busy navel gazing and pandering to the radicals in their base to effectively reach the middle.
Again, without introspection, the left is lost. If they can go back to the party of Clinton or even early Obama the Democrats can reclaim the independents and blue collar workers they have lost over the past 10 years.
I 100 percent agree. But then again, there was no introspection when they set fire to half the country last time trump won
Kind of like " destroying democracy" the Dems keep saying, or bidens " they'll put you all back in chains" vs he also said
Yeah, the fact that they have demonized every single republican candidate since the turn of the century is ridiculous. They even did it to Mit Romney, the most straight and narrow milquetoast candidate ever to run for President
Wow so in your own analogy; Trump is a dangerous wolf (wannabe dictator or incompetent conman), and none of the townspeople (you and other trump voters), believed thats what he was, because the boy (Democrats & the left) had hysterically over reacted to and/or lied about wolves (facists) before, and the boy, the sheep and the townspeople were all doomed and destroyed by the wolf.
That is a perfect analogy, well done 👏 👍 👌
The boy who cried wolf is referring to people who call Trump a fascist or "a threat to democracy." as stated in the original comment.
Reading comprehension is not your strong suit.
That's literally what I just said. I'm not sure I'm the one with the reading comprehension issue. I guess you also don't think through your analogies very much.
Sweetheart, The Biden Administration and Kamala Harris are the fascists.
Can you even name one policy that Kamala stood for? And don't say women's health. Abortion is not a health concern.
You don't know what the word fascist even means. And obviously you need to go back to biology class if you think abortion isn't a health concern.
I think what we're worried about in terms of facism are things like the remarks Trump has made such as "Put me in office and you'll never have to vote again!" I also don't believe that Trump will help the economy. None of the top economists believe he will, and I'm one of those people inclined to trust the experts. But time will tell I guess. And your note about how "we were fine" makes me think that you are likely not a woman (who lost her bodily autonomy thanks to the actions of Trump in the first go-round).
Not here to argue about abortion. I am personally pro-life, but have become agnostic if certain people want to end their children's lives.
Again, the cries of fascism ring hollow and don't reach anyone outside "the bubble" ... remember when Trump was supposed to start a nuclear war, lock Hillary up and put people in camps last time? The accusations that he's going to be a dictator are so outlandish, most of the country laughs at them. Just accept that the left went too far, and that if it wants to win back independents and moderate Dems/Republicans they need to move back to the center. Step #1 is to stop sensationalizing EVERYTHING and turning the dial down from 11 back to 3.
I agree that the left has a lot of work to do. I'm curious what you think Trump meant by saying we'll never have to vote again? What about his comments about using the military against US citizens who disagree with him? What did he mean by saying he wants to "restore America to the True Americans"? I'm not sensationalizing-- I'm quoting the man himself.
I'm sure you're aware of all the ways that abortion bans affect women, fertility and IVF, healthcare, and miscarriage care in ways that reach way beyond abortion.
What I think is that Trump talks off the cuff says a lot of s***. If you've watched Trump, you know that he should be taken seriously but not literally.
The problem is that the media will very often latch on to anything he says and either blow it out of proportion or manipulate it. Like saying Liz Cheney should be given a gun and sent to fight in a war her and her father support (Oh no, Trump said she should be put in front of a firing squad!!) Or when he was talking to Michigan car executives about the economic Blood Bath there would be if Biden was reelected (Oh no, he is threatening violence!!). There is only so many times one can go to the well of hysteria before people run out of outrage.
The most damning thing is that the man is 78 years old and was already President. We don't have to speculate about what he will do, he's already been in office and has been in public life for over 50 years.
Now I'm not expecting everyone to like his policies or his personality. But the sensationalism and latching onto every single thing he says (whether a direct quote or misconstrued) is a mistake that the left hasn't learned to avoid.
Imagine taking direct quotes from someone at face value.
There were Germans in the Weimar Republic who thought Hitler was just 'saying a lot of s***' too.
Why would you vote for someone who 'jokes' or 's*** posts' about being a dictator? Why is that funny? Why would you take that risk no matter how small?
Yes the left are f******** who label everyone they disagree with an -ist or -phobe. A stopped clock is still correct twice a day.
Him being in office before means very little. He lives for campaigning, was narcissistic enough to believe he would win re-election easily, has actually planned this time to keep his promise to 'drain the swamp' and replace all the people responsible for checks and balances with acolytes, and is facing the potential of significant jail time when no longer president.
You are oblivious to his historical parallels and psychiatric make-up.
He's either an easily manipulated dimwitted conman who's about to be reamed by every authoritarian dictator in the world, or he's about to join them.
Is Trump 'the boy who cried wolf', or the wolf? Now thanks to you we all have to find out.
You can thank me when you are living in more economic prosperity, have more security in your community (assuming you don't live in a blue "defund the police area") and we have world peace
We really weren't fine. We lost rights to health and healthcare. Covid ravaged us in ways it didn't have to. Our national security apparatus was decimated and we cozied up to dictators. And that was with "adults in the room". This time around, those adults are gone.
Everyone is fully on board for the Project 2025 agenda.
His plans will trash to economy (tariffs! Mass deportations!) and create unimaginable cruelty.
Your hope is that he's lying about what he wants to do, which is a choice, but not one I'm relying on.
By cozying up to dictators, did you mean that we had world peace and the Abraham Accords? Remember, Russia invaded Ukraine under both Obama and Biden but not under Trump. He is a strong man and our enemies are afraid of him.
Covid was sad, but the death and destruction we saw from 2020-2022 had more to do with how fat and unhealthy our population is more than having enough tests. Remember, we were at the forefront of developing the vaccine.
Trump is a businessman and knows how to win economically, which we saw under the first 3 years of his first Admin. Real wages were up 15% against inflation during his tenure which is the absolute test of economic prosperity. Contrast that against the past 4 years of out of control spending and crazy inflation.
You don't have to like Trump, but please stop catastrophizing everything.
If you think Trump is a good businessman, you are woefully misinformed. He has failed properties all over the world, he has declared bankruptcy more than once and he doesn't pay people who work for him.
That's strange, since there are still over 20,000 employees that work for his companies globally. Is your assertion that he is forcing them to work for free?
It took less than 2 minutes to fact check my statement, you might try it sometime
You've proved that he doesn't pay any of his 20,000 employees?
A billionaire businessman having legal disputes over wages is nothing new. Some valid, some non-valid. I'm assuming that all were either dismissed or settled in court.
You are so far down a rabbit hole that you fail to see the big picture of what happened yesterday. But I can't make you understand; I can only show you the door of rationality and common sense.
https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/282933-report-trump-has-refused-to-pay-hundreds-of-workers/
https://www.thoughtco.com/donald-trump-business-bankruptcies-4152019
January 6, 2021. That was not a figment of our imagination, and Trump did nothing to stop it. In fact he did everything to encourage it.
if that's not enough to concern you or anyone, then that is deeply concerning to me.
Trump is a master con man, and it saddens me to see that half the country has fallen for his scam, which is hidden under a cloak of "peace, security, and economic prosperity." The man is only interested in stripping down America, selling it off for parts, pocketing profit, and elevating his ego. You might try reading Sarah Kendzior here on Substack. Very educational.
Oh no, that radical leftist agenda of helping the middle class, making health care affordable, tackling the climate crisis, and protecting democracy.
You won, Alex. Why are you engaging here? Go make your MAGA dreams come true.
More leftist platitudes, and no actual help to Americans as the last 4 years have demonstrated.
But don't worry, Trump is on his way to actually help the middle class and make life better, safer and more affordable. Democracy, ironically, is now in safer hands with competent (and less punitive) leadership and the voice of the people spoke loudly on November 5th.
I thought I could come here and stir up some dormant synapses in a few leftists' brains. It has proven much more difficult than I anticipated.
Well said. My sentiments exactly.
To all the people who think some of us are over reacting: You do realize it his Trump's own words that disturb us, not some second hand crap. It's who he hangs around with. It's who he says he admires. If he's so great at everything how it that he needs constant excuses for what he says?
A friend posted this, attributed to Venus Williams...
You are awakening to the
same country you fell asleep to.
The very same country.
Pull yourself together.
And,
when you see me,
do not ask me
"What do we do now?
How do we get through the next four years?"
Some of my Ancestors dealt with
at least 400 years of this
under worse conditions.
Continue to do the good work.
Continue to build bridges not walls.
Continue to lead with compassion.
Continue the demanding work
of liberation for all.
Continue to dismantle broken systems,
large and small.
Continue to set the best example
for the children.
Continue to be a vessel of nourishing joy.
Continue right where you are.
Right where you live into your days.
Do so in the name of
The Creator who expects
nothing less from each of us.
And if you are not "continuing"
ALL of the above,
in community, partnership, collaboration?
What is it you have been doing?
What is it you are waiting for?
Writing from Canada where many of us are horrified, angry, saddened, frightened and in shock - not just for friends and family that live in the US but for the world given the outsized role that America plays on the global stage. I actually thought back to your post from just the other day and thought maybe what I would do is start making signs - maybe just on cardboard - and posting them on the fencing that our local government has put up to displace homeless people with nowhere else to go. Not necessarily signs of protest but signs of solidarity and a reminder that despite efforts to render those with less voiceless and invisible we will continue to fight to lift up their voices and make sure that they are not forgotten. In solidarity. See you next week.
Maybe you should also try to be a voice when your truckers were also rallying and they had their bank accts frozen by Trudeau
Were they not voiceless?
Thanks for a post. I've been sick ever since they called Indiana. Like a lot of people I am grasping at anything to help calm me down.
Thanks Chris, you are definitely one I want to listen to about moving forward. I would love to read a separate Substack from you in leadership of how we build and grow together and come together. I feel like the WDS moments I experienced are for this time in bridging something in U.S. And world, even if we can't quite understand what it is or could look like, especially today. Thank you for sharing your honest experience. Thank you for being someone I would want to know how he goes about this.
No pressure, of course, just feeling held and led in your natural and powerful leadership.
Thank you for this.
Today we mourn.
Tomorrow we work.
No not your fault. But flummoxed again.
Many thanks for all your posts. This is what I received in my journal this morning:
Post-election Blues
What is mine to do?
Mourn with my people, and heal, while nurturing self and others. No matter who voted for whom, we all suffer or reap the consequences.
Attitude, personal attitude is, as it always has been, the only lever we truly control.
Stay strongly focused on the good, on the light you want to see and feel. It is only by lifting one another up that we can rise once more. This is what is meant by turning the other cheek. Turn toward that which you want to see, feel, and believe in this world, if you want to live it in this lifetime.
Others might have concrete steps to take and follow. Be open to receiving and sharing your intuition with others, asking that they share theirs in return.
Knitting our country, our brothers and sisters together is, or was traditionally speaking, “women's work.”
Resilience needs strengthening and tending.
Love is a force greater than fear. Tap into your reserves. Keep one another in your heart and in your life.
Be brave.
That's my share for today. Thank you for the space to share.
Absolutely beautiful! Thank you! 🙏
Chris - Once again you summed it up. Thank you. I will try to make something and help someone today. Difficult b/c I feel a mix of anger, fear, and disappointment.
What are you going to make and who are you going help? I need ideas if you have some spare
I spent some time cooking my wife a nice dinner, but haven't found a way to help someone yet. Maybe tmrw :-)
Thanks Matt 💜
I don't know about where you are but it could be as simple as seeing if there is a Food Bank or Food Pantry (we have some that operate like little free libraries)/Community Fridge you could leave some items at. I know here in Canada the demand at food banks is through the roof with many people coming for the first time.
Thanks Susan 💙
It was definitely a repudiation of the leftist agenda, all the lawfare that the leftists engaged in, the " peaceful but fiery rallies" that the BLM and antics engaged in throughout the country. The fact that everything has gone up and people lost lucrative jobs in the gas and oil industry. Almost forgot, the trying to jail parents from engaging with school boards when their daughters were raped.
Wow. Way to open the door for all kinds of reaction that will be quite antithetical to mental health. Not sure of this is the kind of activism you mean to practice with this thing, Chris. Might have been better to practice it elsewhere rather than poking the bear that many people probably find YOMH a pleasant reprieve from. Rather than tee up with anything incorporating "us" and "them", I'd suggest (and this goes for those on both "sides") acknowledging the simple fact that every individual you meet has a unique perspective. There's an opportunity to see similarities just as much as differences.
I agree. I've seen enough political bickering to last a lifetime! Always looked forward to these newsletters and the comments to help me find new ways to navigate my mental health. But look at these comments...same as you see on X and Reddit and everywhere else. Could've easily address anyone's concerns/fears without phrasing in a way that would spark yet more debate. Disappointed in this.
I love this! I’ve been saying “make something, help someone” to myself pretty much every day since you first posted it. It’s so helpful. Sometimes “make something” is cooking something instead of going for the processed food, and that leads right into helping someone — me and my family. Thank you!
I didn't read the post :-) but I did come to the same conclusion, months ago, a lifetime ago :-) may God bless the emperor and keep him far away... There's so many things I could bring home and make myself miserable with, and choosing not to do so, has been a transformative time in my life.
Doesn't mean I do it well, but turning off certain aspects of social media have gone a long way I'm a happier person.
I'm as more or more caring than I used to be, because I have the emotional energy to help, and as you've said taking the action is better than waiting for feelings to resolve to take action to help others :)