What Should We Do Now?
Five Steps to Take Now to Feel In Control
Whew. This is... frightening.
This country we live in and love, has suddenly become a scary place. And we are all filled with anxiety about what's to come in the future, for us personally, for our family and friends, and for our country.
It's a lot. It's terrifying and overwhelming and we are all feeling a bit lost.
Here are five suggestions you can do right now to move forward in our "New Normal".
1) Stay safe
Don't do anything I (or anyone) suggest that makes you unsafe. Protect yourself and your family above all else.
If you have the privilege of feeling safe yourself, please let others know you are a safe space. There are trans and gay people, and POC who literally fear for their lives. Let them know you are an ally.
Wear a rainbow pin, or a safety pin (a sign you are a "safe" person), or post signs and garden flags at home that celebrate BLM, Diversity, etc. Please do this only if you feel safe in doing so, as it could make you a target.
But if you can, it will help us find each other, and know we are not alone. We need our community, not just on social media, but in the real world.
2) Find a stress reliever
This level of stress will make you literally sick. You must find a way to relax while living. It may be art or music or friends or nature. Find some joy.
Here's my quick stress reliever go-to that works anywhere, anytime:
Go outside for 2 minutes. Listen. Name 5 things you hear. Take a good breath. This will bring you out of the anxiety space and into the moment.
Now that you are (relatively) safe and have a way to reduce stress, it's time to live and fight another day. But what do we do?
3) Listen and learn from our Minority brothers and sisters
Us White folks have lost some of our Privilege and are suddenly in a (political) minority, with daily fears and anxieties about just being who we are and living our lives. We've lost our power.
Guess what? Minorities do this every damn day. This is where we all are now: In a place where we will be demanding rights, but with very little power. Listen to minorities who have organized, and look to the leaders, old and new. Learn from them. They know how to fight for rights they absolutely deserve, while having little power.
Read, learn, follow.
4) Find sources for news from places you trust, outside the control of government and big money:
News: The Guardian
Substack suggestions:
, (Heather Cox Richardson)
(Jessica Valenti)
(Edwin Eisendrath)
(Chris Geidner)
➡️Please put your news and Substack follow suggestions in the comments. We need good sources for information, now more than ever
5) Connect on social media
We need to continue our connections to stick together, organize and motivate. The trouble is finding that space. I am on Threads (@bluewave_maureen) with an amazing following, and we have built a strong Liberal community there. But... it's run by Zuck, and that leads to lots and lots of censoring, and I expect that will only get worse. I will stay there as long as I can (many accounts get suspended for no reason and I expect it will happen to me at some point.)
I am also on Bluesky (@bluewavemaureen), although with a much smaller community. We are growing though, and I find Bluesky to be less restrictive in terms of political and random word censorship. I hope to see our Blue community grow on Bluesky. I have a “Starter Pack” with Blue friends (mostly from Threads) that will get you going.
➡️LMK in the comments here if you would like to have your Bluesky profile added to that Starter Pack, so we can find each other and build community there.
Substack can have a community feel if you subscribe and use their notes, chat and comment functions. I expect this platform will be growing in popularity and influence. if you follow people here, try commenting and reading their notes more. Watch for live posts.
➡️Please leave your suggestions for social media connecting, and good follows on those platforms in the comments!
6) (I know I said 5 things - #6 will come soon.) Organize and mobilize comes next. We are not quite there yet. We need to grieve the loss of our democracy and freedoms, and learn to maneuver in a new landscape.
That's why you need to do steps 1-5, to prepare yourself to fight. We need to do these five things so that we can organize and mobilize:
Get safe,
Relieve stress,
Listen and learn from organized minorities,
Keep informed of the news, and
Connect with others. Mobilizing and action will come through those connections.
We will get through this. Together.
We have no choice.
Thank you for reading.
Hi Maureen well said. I am @michaelqtodd on all social networks and gmail I follow back
Would love to be added to your starter pack @alisakesten