Illustration by Daisy at daisyillustrations.com
It is officially election season in the United States. We are only 51 days out from election day, which blows my mind.
I’m feeling the weightiness of this election in particular, and really wanting to get involved and put my values into action. At the same time, politics can feel like such a conflict-ridden and contentious field that my body sometimes just wants to keep it all at arms length.
I want to share some guidance with you, that’s worked for me, on a trauma-informed approach to election season. This has enabled me to get engaged and enact my values, and also care for myself really gently and generously.
1. Don’t confuse listening to/watching/reading the news with taking effective action
Sometimes our nervous systems need a break from the high drama of the political arena — especially as it looks right now, with the current cast of characters. That’s okay!
I like to get really clear on what’s useful about staying informed. This in turn helps me get really clear about the threshold after which it exceeds its usefulness. Each person likely has a different individual ethic around this.
Here’s mine: The point of ingesting the news is to have enough information to know what actions to take — specific safety precautions, who to vote for, what issues need advocating around through my reps, NGOs, marching, etc. Beyond that, I view my media consumption as 100% voluntary and optional. And it doesn’t actually take that much to fulfill this criterion.
For those of us who have experienced trauma, it’s common for our nervous systems to feel a sense of urgency and a vigilant need to know every possible piece of information available — especially as the political arena, the pandemic, ongoing structural racism, and climate instability can continue to signal a lack of safety in our environment.
I am here to assure you that limiting your news consumption will not make you any less safe or any less a good person.
In fact, I have found that limiting my news consumption to its threshold of usefulness has freed up energy for me to be more present and available for effective action, and for my life.
Listening to, reading, and watching the news can be kind of like worrying. It feels like you’re doing something, but the action is all in your head. So let’s not confuse that with taking action that impacts the world around us, and let’s give ourselves permission to let the spinning go.
2. Let your engagement be responsive to your nervous system
There are so many ways to be effective in shifting the political landscape and power dynamics in this country. This means that I get to match my engagement to what my nervous system needs at any given time.
The action that’s right for me is the one that I’ll actually do, and that will enable me to stay engaged for the long haul. This allow for slow and steady, resilient, ongoing engagement.
In March, I started writing letters to help get out the vote through Vote Forward. At some point I got the idea that making calls is the “real” or “right” way to get out the vote. I stopped writing my letters, with the intention of taking this “better” action. At the same time, my nervous system was feeling kind of keyed up in general, and, frankly, calling strangers makes me anxious. I made no calls. But now I wasn’t writing letters either.
At some point I realized I wasn’t meeting myself where I was. In so doing, I was foregoing where I was actually available to be useful in favor of an imagery ideal of how I “should” be useful. I realized that meeting my nervous system where it was actually unlocked my capacity to participate. I started writing my letters again. Not only do I feel available for this action, I actually find the process soothing, and I feel grateful and empowered to be participating and to experience the agency that is genuinely available to me.
3. Structure your engagement like you structure your meditation practice
Much as I like to be a an unbridled free spirit, I’m most effective at stuff when I set clear intentions and have gentle structure.
I do get some election engagement and other activism stuff done spontaneously, when the spirit moves me. It feels great when this happens, and I take time to appreciate and enjoy it.
However, I’ve found I most reliably engage when I set clear intentions for how much of what I’m going to do when — just like in my meditation practice.
Here’s how I think about it: I pick an amount of time I want to devote each week. I decide what I intend to do during that time. I pick a time on the calendar to do it.
And I make sure to set an intention that feels really do-able. I know I will be more likely to stay engaged and keep it up when I feel successful and competent in meeting my goals. Again, slow and steady are my watch words. Give it a try and treat it like an experiment. This is not something to beat yourself up over. It’s an opportunity to find a rhythm that genuinely works for you.
I believe that everyone in the United States is living in a potentially traumatic environment right now — particularly those who identify as part of groups that are targeted by our nation’s structural inequities, and who live in pandemic and climate hot spots. There is a lot of discussion in the trauma literature on what they call “protective factors” — things that can protect someone from experiencing trauma symptoms even if they are exposed to a potentially traumatic event or environment. This literature has found that one of the things that contributes to trauma symptoms is a sense of powerlessness or helplessness. On the flip side, those who are able to be helpers in some way following disasters often experience fewer traumatic symptoms.
In keeping with this, by meeting your nervous system where it is, you can actually be freed up to locate your own agency. This can support your empowerment and resilience during these multiply trying times.