Dear Ones,
I am hearing from so many people both within and beyond the church that they are feeling Election Anxiety and/or Covid Fatigue and/or Simply Overwhelmed at so many things so amiss in the world.
Of course, you are!
It’s anxiety producing, exhausting, and overwhelming to have so many Big Things happening that are largely out of our control or influence. Anxiety, fatigue, and overwhelm are perfectly rational responses to irrational times. I’d be worried for anyone who didn’t feel that way at least some of the time.
So what to do?
- First, acknowledge those feelings and any of the other less-than-pleasant emotions that often acco
mpany them – irritation, despair, rage, or ____________. Fill in your own blank here. It’s not exactly comfortable to sit with any of it, though it is ultimately better than denying or (worse) sublimating it. That’ll come back to bite you eventually. - Second, take small steps. A friend told me he was obsessively logging onto FiveThirtyEight.com – Nate Silver’s geeky election statistics website. He was checking it at least once an hour. I gently suggested that maybe he could check it every other hour…
- Next, do the healthy things that work – exercise, sleep, eating well and not too much, seeking belly laughs.
- And hang on. Time will pass and we will be on the other side of this election – soon. The other side of the pandemic – eventually, the other side of systemic racism – with dedicated effort, the other side of the Climate Crisis – maybe not in our lifetimes, though we can still be the ancestors who made a difference.
Here are a few things you can do as Unitarian Universalists.
** Come to the Dia de los Muertos, Day of Remembrance service on Sunday, Nov. 1. Honor the ancestors who helped you get this far, and those you have lost more recently. May it remind us all of love and connection, which we cannot survive without.
** On Tuesday, Nov. 3, drop in at Spiritual Grounding for Election Day, led by UU ministers from around the country. Here’s the link for it on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/728150507736666. A place to share with our comrades in faith.
** On the day after the election, Wednesday Nov. 4, whatever the result, join the vigil and demonstration being planned by several community groups. More info still to come.
** Come to church on Sunday, Nov. 8 for Beginnings and Endings: a Healing Service. No matter the outcome of the election – even if we see the end of an awful era – our work will just be beginning.
Alas, we are in for more of the same for an unknown length of time. Yet the anxiety, fatigue, and overwhelm are reaching a particular crescendo as Election Day is finally upon us. We can get through this next week together. Which means we can get through it all, together.
With love, Rev. Dana