Today I woke up feeling stuck. But rather than dwell on my increasing state of internal emergency and our collective anxiety as deep-feeling creatives, I thought I’d offer up five suggestions for healing and standing up:
1. Allow yourself to feel the full range of emotions: the shock, the awe, the fear and offense. The sadness and anger. Hopelessness, guilt, and gratitude. Do not forget gratitude.
2. Get an outside opinion. I found this powerful story of a Venezuelan professional who witnessed first-hand the “economic demolition” of his country at the hands of a familiar populist autocrat. There’s a gem of insight in every struggle - something to really chew on: How to Culture Jam a Populist in Four Easy Steps.
3. Listen to your elders. On March 7, 1965, John Lewis led a peaceful march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma — and was one of the first to be beaten unconscious by the police. Now solidified in history as Congressman and Civil Rights legend, listen to his empowering words of wisdom on love, discipline, and action through nonviolence in this episode of On Being with Krista Tippett.
“You have to believe and you can never, ever, give up on any possibility. It’s part of it, as I said, from the beginning. It’s already done. You just have to find a way to make it real.”
4. Do something. Start small. My friends and I are painfully deleting our Uber accounts (due to the company leadership’s blatant profit-over-people policies, which climaxed this weekend with its full-out social media shaming). There are little things you can do to help. Donate to the ACLU. Support a local artist at a fundraising show. Hug someone just a little bit longer. Here are 10 more things to do.
5. Take care. Heal with friends. Make food. Watch a film, or listen to music (if you’re looking for something chill I’ve playlisted 20 hours of that here). Cope with something other than alcohol for at least a few days (this is me talking to me). Take a walk. Be present.
That's all I got for now.
What about you?
Image by Alice Donovan Rouse