On Twitter, JeremyWingert79 asked how we stay sane through the next few years. Here's my answer -- a 🧵: --Focus on the local, things within your sphere of influence, and your ability to impact. --Cultivate unplugged times. Awareness is important, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. 1/4 - ThreadSky

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social • 45 days ago

On Twitter, JeremyWingert79 asked how we stay sane through the next few years. Here's my answer -- a 🧵:

--Focus on the local, things within your sphere of influence, and your ability to impact.

--Cultivate unplugged times. Awareness is important, but this is a marathon, not a sprint.

1/4

Comments

fldsofgld.bsky.social•45 days ago

📌

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

--"Joy is resistance" [[email protected]]. Trump wants his enemies scared, exhausted, demoralized. Let's deny him that.

--Place no hope in political attempts to counter Trump. Support them, but hold them lightly. Ever their successes may will disappoint in one way or another.

2/4

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

--We are past words. Anyone still supporting Trump won't hear rational argument. So denounce when appropriate, but *show* them a better way, a life of compassion & empathy. Live so brightly their hatred feels cheap and dull.

--Plant something. A garden, a houseplant, a tree. Water it.

3/4

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

--Read the writings of those who lived under cruel regimes and dark times. Read the works of the marginalized. Read the books of the former enslaved, of Holocaust survivors, of anyone who lived through the blackest pits of human oppression.

4/4

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

Let me add one more:

--Journal. Write down your reactions. Write down details so they are remembered. Trump's first administration seemed to evoke amnesia in so many people, but there are things that should not be forgotten. Write down your principles, so you'll know if he changes you.

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

I'm preaching to myself. God knows I go doomer-mode myself. But this is what helps.

So I pray, and I plant my habanero peppers, and donate to my causes, and I tend my bees, and I vote for people who might stand up to Trump, and I play with my kids, and I love my neighbors (even the Trump-voters).

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

Oh -- and if anyone has recommendations for practical, attainable actions we can take, or for reputable organizations helping our more vulnerable neighbors that we can support in the months ahead, comment or drop links below.

Rolling up my sleeves and getting to work keeps me from fretting.

nocturnalxlight.bsky.social•33 days ago

tending to your bees 🐝🥺🌷🌻 genuinely sounds lovely. cultivating life that gives others life and nourishment.

fortheglory.bsky.social•45 days ago

Last time you could hardly remember the insanity that happened the week before, and then something more crazy happened. This time, I'm keeping a 4-year journal.

nocturnalxlight.bsky.social•33 days ago

I hadn’t written in my journal in four years bc I felt intimidated about how guilty I’d feel from how long I’d neglected to write.

This past weekend, the terror of truly realizing our online archives could be that easily erased got me scribbling and journaling for the first time in years.

timothy2223.bsky.social•8 days ago

I recently finished Leif Enger's I Cheerfully Refuse. It's a dystopian novel with a hopeful touch. One of the chapters is titled something to the effect "I finally remembered the future."

(I listened to the audiobook on Libby, and don't have access to the exact chapter titles at the moment.)

panthersfan-afr.bsky.social•45 days ago

I'm reminded of the famous quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr:

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that".

May we be salt & light.
May we truly love God & our neighbors.

jdmc777.bsky.social•45 days ago

We planted a tree in our yard last year, my daughter brought it home.

There is something powerful about planting something I'll probably not see grow to it's full height, but future pastor's living in the parsonage might. If it survives.

futuristguy.bsky.social•45 days ago

I'm originally from a western frontier state. In local history, we learned it often took a full year to journey from the east to the far west. Along the way, pioneers often planted trees for shade and fruit, flowers for beauty, and vegetables--knowing these would mostly benefit those who came later.

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

There's an Andrew Peterson song about planting trees that we won't see grow to their full height.

futuristguy.bsky.social•45 days ago

A close friend of mine originally from South Asia said their families had a similar tradition of planting mango trees at a new place they moved to, knowing they might be relocating before the trees matured enough to bear frit--but planting anyways as a symbol of care, community, and hope.

suzannesky.bsky.social•16 days ago

yes and yes. this is a great thread.

theswedishivy.bsky.social•45 days ago

Thank you. All of it.

queenaelhsa.bsky.social•45 days ago

📌

lilyruisseau.bsky.social•45 days ago

📌

aileengronewold.bsky.social•45 days ago

This is an excellent list. I would add “speak truth”—not because it will change anyone’s mind, but as an act of resistance and a reminder that there is such a thing as truth and it matters. I volunteer at a hospice house and the humane society, because no one cares about politics there.

golvio.bsky.social•45 days ago

Two productive ways you can give yourself things to look forward to:

- Patronize local arts! Get some tickets to the city opera or your town’s community theatre!

- Support your local library by visiting it more often! Library budgets are allocated based on reported resource usage…

golvio.bsky.social•45 days ago

…So take advantage of any resource your library offers! Take books off the shelf to read quietly & put them on the Reshelving Rack instead of where you found it when you’re done so the library can report visitor traffic more accurately! Go to a free seminar, class, or get-together in the conf room!

golvio.bsky.social•45 days ago

The privatization chuds will likely want to cut libraries first, especially the officials in the pocket of Big Bezos, so showing up for your library will give them less of an excuse. Library visits also have built-in unplugging/decompression time if you aren’t brushing up on current events or theory

golvio.bsky.social•45 days ago

Also, get involved in local orgs that focus on stuff you really care about. I’ve been getting involved with my town’s queer community center, and even just talking face to face w/ other people who are just as affected by this shit as I am lifted a lot of the weight of despair from my mind.

golvio.bsky.social•45 days ago

I’m still angry and hurt by the ongoing attacks on trans rights & the fash setting their sights on ending marriage equality, but at least I’m not alone. It’d be a million times worse & more paralyzing if I was still completely isolated from the rest of my community.

tiffany-jo.bsky.social•44 days ago

I've been encouraged and grounded by Reading While Black by @esaumccaulley.bsky.social

lindstorian.bsky.social•45 days ago

📌

jspray.bsky.social•45 days ago

@dadnomad.bsky.social is on here too!

josiahhawthorne.bsky.social•45 days ago

There he is! Thank you, I couldn't remember his Bluesky name.

dadnomad.bsky.social•45 days ago

Thanks for the shout-out! Wow, this was unexpected. Much appreciated.

pnwcori.bsky.social•45 days ago

Join your local mutual aid group. We have one for our city, but we live outside of town in a smaller community and a friend and I are talking about starting one out here.

Use your library as much as possible. Become a Friend of the Library and volunteer.