Dear WUU Community,
It’s the anxiety that’s been getting me this month. As we get closer and closer to the November election, I’ve been feeling more and more jangly and jittery. So much is at stake. Like you, I fervently hope this election will put our nation on a better path. And like you, I am sitting with the truth that we don’t know what’s going to happen.
In times like this, it’s all too easy to get caught up in an anxious spiral. Maybe we’re waking up in the middle of the night, worried and tense, unable to rest even though our bodies need it. Some of us may be tempted to self-medicate with alcohol or other mood-altering drugs, to find relief from the stress for a while. Or maybe we find ourselves binging on too many news stories and social media posts, scrounging for clues about which way things are heading.
But these addictive practices can only offer us temporary relief. They won’t give us the true peace and ease that we long for.
So what can we do to care for ourselves and our communities in this anxious time?
Here are two practices I especially recommend right now. First, even and especially when you are feeling discouraged, scared, and anxious, find a way to serve. This isn’t magic; study after study has shown that helping others and acting on our values in difficult times isn’t only good for the world; it will help us feel better too.
Personally, I’ve been volunteering to get out the vote, writing postcards to prospective voters of color in a swing state. It feels so good to be doing something positive and productive. When I pick up my special purple pen and address a new postcard, I feel hope. I believe that together we can make a difference. I even believe it’s going to be OK, no matter what.
By the way, big thanks to our UU the Vote team for organizing this project. If you’d like to get involved with other get-out-the-vote efforts, it’s not too late; email Jodi Fisler at jfisler@gmail.com.
Second, find a simple body practice that helps you settle and ground. When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I like to sit down, put my hand on my heart, and just breathe for a few seconds. It can be as simple as that. Another thing that helps me is to imagine energy from the earth’s core coming up from below and filling my body, from my toes to the top of my head. At the same time, I imagine light from the stars above me flowing down through the top of my head, meeting and dancing with the fiery energy from earth’s core. For me, it feels both calming and invigorating. It reminds me that I and all of us are connected to the ancient forces of the universe—we are active, empowered participants in life, not just people to whom things happen.
If you’d like to learn more about calming body practices, there are many resources out there. In this moment, I particularly recommend Resmaa Menakem’s book My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies.
And you—what is helping you right now? May you find ways to heal, and ways to serve.
In faith,
Rev. Laura