Hostile Government Takeover
Almost every day since January 20th, I've had to reach for my stack of climate mindfulness skills in my resilience toolbox.
Full disclosure, I do have a diagnosis of General Anxiety Disorder, along with ADHD, and OCD which just means when I worry, if left unchecked, I will get veered off into obsessive thinking. With ADHD, added stress will stray my focus ability and I lose sleep or over/under eat and hydrate. I know this about myself, I am using my personal resilience skills as I watch how our country stands at the precipice of a hostile government takeover.
The "Hostile Government Takeover" Song That Took Over TikTok
This helps me.
“The U.S. sure is facing some uncertainty, and a TikToker named Todd sang a little ditty about how it makes him feel. A few weeks, many remixes, and a shout out by John Oliver later, and the song has become a sort of anthem online.” Know Your Meme
Original TikTok from @AGiftFromTodd
Find it at Cascadia Stack’s YouTube page
Putting words to the reality of the situation somehow helps. Acknowledging in a curious way, and not avoiding is how I approach the political drama. Regional grassroots opposition groups are working on this. I have faith, we see it happening.
We are at the beginning of a very long four years. Hold on because “we’re in the middle of a hostile government takeover” as the song goes. It's time to get our toolbox in order.
Drew's Resilience Toolbox
Limit social media time
Do social media with intention. Name my objective before I open the app. I try to scroll quickly through things that are of a negative nature and pause to comment or like something helpful or encouraging to help it's algorithm. I've been using BlueSky instead of Twitter. I view only the categories that I want to see. I use Substack instead of Reddit to read and comment about climate and environmental writers.
Intentional time with nature
Meditating is not easy. But taking nature in using all senses, individually calms down my nervous system.
Meditative, focused tasks
Dishes, folding laundry, “zen tangles” or mandala adult coloring book.
Journaling
Rather than just opening up a blank page and dumping everything that's on my mind, that's too many details and explanation, I just start with some key sentences. If I answer just those questions on paper, the thoughts that come to mind will guide me to take one of the steps above.
Example:
Today, I read a headline about ___.
I felt ___ because it affects ___.
I might be powerless over that, but I can look for strength if ___.
Gratitude
For spiritual people or not, just taking a few minutes to really reflect on the very most basic things can uplift my mood and fill my cup.
I keep a clean house. I love my sheets, my bed feels so good when I get into it every night. I have two working legs that have allowed me to ___. My relationship with ___ is mature and we have a strong bond.
clean laundry | purple camus flowers growing in the pnw | northern lights that make it to my region sometimes | peaceful Wilson River with its green glass color | the new pdx airport made from sustainably and locally sourced pnw wood