I got a lot of comments on my “Dumpster Fire” coffee date post last week. Lots of sympathy for my mini-emergencies and also, oh yes, there’s… the political situation?
I’ll bet that’s what people thought I was referring to when they saw the dumpster fire mug. Well, I’ll be honest. I didn’t watch, read, or listen to ANY NEWS last week. Over the weekend, I did ask my husband for a very brief summary, but that was all.
After the election, one of my friends told me her policy going forward: her husband has been informed that if they have to gather their possessions and flee, then he can tell her what’s going on. Anything short of that, and she doesn’t want to know. I’ve pretty much adopted that policy for myself.
I KNOW things aren’t going well. I know the news is going to be saddening, infuriating, and ridiculous. I just can’t deal with that kind of cortisol spike on a daily basis. To be honest, the things I’ve heard are nothing short of what I expected, so why subject myself to it over and over again?
I know there are flaws in this plan. The people who persistently and secretly resisted the Nazis played a large role in bringing down that regime (hey, I’m no ignoramus- I read Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy!) I just don’t know what to do right now. I have the feeling that we have to watch this play out sickeningly until the midterm elections, and then hope to make a change (?).
Anyway. We still have each other! We have the Cool Bloggers Book Club coming up, and now we have Elisabeth’s F.I.G. Collective! If you haven’t already read about it, check it out- we’re all going to write down something positive for each day in February. She even has an amazing printable! I love the feeling that yes, these are hard times, but we’re all in it together. We can get through this.
I’m going to start off right now, even though it’s not February yet. This morning on the way to school it was slightly chilly- 59 degrees and very humid. I decided to turn on the heat in the car, and the warm air felt luxurious. It wasn’t like we needed the heat on- we don’t live up north where it’s 10 degrees and the heat is a matter of survival. We were just slightly chilly, and because we didn’t truly need the heat, it felt like a luxury. It was a small moment of joy.
Are you joining the F.I.G. Collective? Do you have a bonus FIG before the month starts?
Top photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
26 Responses
I am looking forward to the CBBC and FIG too! I think that is what you have to do, have things in your life that are positive and you can look forward to! My gratitude today would be that is has warmed up a little where I am! It was in the 20s last week and this week it is in the 40s, which is a marked difference! I went running in a tank top yesterday! Yay. Also I am going skiing tomorrow! I think I will have no issues finding gratitude every day!
I’m pretty sure you will not have a problem with this, Kyria! Have fun skiing.
I already have a spot on my daily Time Log spreadsheet/ tracker called “Happy” where I list a few things that made me happy that day, so this will be easy peasy for me to join in on! I also have a “Bummer” spot, because, well, balance. 😉
I’m not doing the book club because I am focusing on reading Harry Potter (at least just the first one) before our upcoming London trip! We ended up deciding to get tickets to the Harry Potter Studio where they filmed all the movies, so I’m like, ok, I think I’d better read at least 1 book and see a couple of the movies! haha. The boys have read all the books and Ivan has seen all the movies, so I’m the odd man out here.
Yes, it’s very annoying to be reading a great book and keep interrupting it to read a book club book. So stick with Harry Potter- although I do recommend The Blue Castle at some point because I’m loving it so far!
We do have each other! There are lots of things to find gratitude in, and beauty, even when things are a mess. And I totally hear you on the news. I cannot take the cortisol spikes either, and there is truly nothing that I can do about it. So I just skim headlines at most.
I’m afraid to even skim the headlines- but like I said I did ask my husband for a very brief summary. That might work for the next while (until he gets annoyed with it.)
To be “being informed” means having my chain yanked several times a day. At a minimum, it doesn’t make me feel good. What does make me feel good is living my life and showing up on election day.
Yes to starting the F.I.G. collection early! It’s going to be high 30s to 40 this week!!! It feels so nice! And one week from today I will be waking up to much warmer temps;-)
Yes you will! Wow, that’s coming up fast : )
I think we all have to do whatever we can to get through these tough, and very infuriating and upsetting times! I am very glad I left TV news in 2018 because now I don’t have to be surrounded by that all day.
Something positive is that it’s my dog’s 11th birthday this week! I don’t actually know her real birthday since she’s a rescue, but I celebrate it on her “Gotcha Day,” which is January 31. This year has been 10 years since I adopted her which is wild, and we are celebrating her with a little party this weekend!
Eek- working in the news right now would be terrible! And Happy Birthday to your dog! That’s so cute, you’re having a party. Is she getting presents?
She is definitely getting presents! She doesn’t really care much for toys anymore, but she loves treats and clothes/bandanas so she will be getting those!
Thanks… I think I will join… I may need this for the next 4 years. LOL
Ha, yes. “February” might turn into 4 years.
I really loved Diane’s post about life lately:
“I try not to read the news, and then worry that I’m uninformed. I have learned that ostriches don’t really bury their heads in the sand – they look like they are when really they are looking after their eggs which they lay in holes in the ground. (Since, you know, ostriches don’t nest in trees.) I feel like there is a metaphor here – I’m not burying my head in the sand, I’m tending to my young…”
I think it can be hard to shake the guilt of not staying on top of everything, but I think it takes courage to realize what IS and IS NOT within our control. Hate doesn’t drive out hate, so focusing on our sphere of influence and being a positive light where we can be is about the best we can hope for/do.
So…yay for FIGs <3 Thanks for the shout-out 😉 The more the merrier!
Yes!!! The more the merrier. I think pretty much everyone needs this right now. And, I LOVE that about the ostriches. My husband accuses me of burying my head in the sand- now I know how to repond.
Lately I’ve been coping with life by reading, very escapist, and I’m grateful to have found a bunch of authors whose books are going down like potato chips. Also grateful that I can afford to try out Kindle Unlimited, as not all of them are available through the library (though I’m grateful for the library, too!).
Reading is the perfect coping mechanism. I need to do more of it.
Self-care is important. Resistance cannot happen if we are broken. Joy IS resistance!
When we despair, we have no hope, and we cannot dream a brighter future…
So yes, we may have to look away from the news to focus on what we can do.
But we must all DO something. Kindness and hope and good feelings must be rooted in actual work.
The present may be uncomfortable, but it’s also an opportunity to grow into something beyond our current limitations.
I guess what I’m going for is that it’s not an all-or-nothing binary. Sorry if that’s not particularly agreeable.
Nothing you say is disagreeable! You’re right, and I need people like you to push me out of my rut.
I give myself about 10-15 minutes a day to read the news. And that’s about all I can do. It is a true privilege that I don’t need to do more than that and I don’t take that for granted.
Current FIG: I was on a committee to decide on an award and a well-deserved colleague is going to win. I have to keep it hush-hush for now, but I am loving that people who do good work sometimes get acknowledged for it.
15 minutes- arg. That would be enough to put me in an asylum. But, you’re way better informed than I am.
Yay for your colleague- that is a FIG.
I have kept up with what is happening to some extent as it is sort of unavoidable with all the chats I am in at work. I mostly listen to Pantsuit Politics to help me understand how to process things and have hope. In 2017 I will still childless so when the Muslim bans went into effect, I volunteered to work for an ESL non-profit that works with immigrant communities and felt like that was a good outlet for my rage. Now I feel a bit paralyzed but I like Maya’s sentiment above about joy being resistance! I will be participating in FIG but will need to record things digitally since I currently can’t write. Eeks. I have tried writing by holding the pen with my thumb and middle finger and it’s awful. But writing with my left is even worse. Gah. So digital it is!
Well, thank goodness for digital- otherwise you would be learning how to write with your left hand and it would not be pretty.
Maybe when I start to feel up to it I”ll listen to Pantsuit Politics. I’m sure it would be helpful.
This is a great idea, not only for February!
I just skim the news and rely on Kai to tell me if something important happens. 😅
What does the abbreviation FIG stand for?
Finding Joy in Gratitude! I didn’t come up with it- this is Elisabeth’s project (from Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist.)