How I plan to survive a second Trump Presidency
First of all, I hope this is not necessary, but reading the tea leaves it looks like Donald has a real chance of being elected as President again. (Also, I promise this won’t turn into a politics newsletter.) The last time this occurred I barely made it through the 4-year term with my nerves intact. I went down a dark rabbit hold of stress. I became addicted to the 24-hour news cycle, to tracking every every stupid thing that Trump said and did — during the years of the Mueller investigation. It was all consuming, it devoured my time and attention and was incredibly depressing.
The stress came from worrying about and focusing a great deal on something that I have very little control over. That's foolish, and a recipe for depression. I'm giving myself permission to take care of my own mental health and well-being, no matter is happening in the 24-hour news cycle. I do hope that by maintaining my sanity and positivity it can radiate outwards into the world, but it has to start from within.
I realized that I may as well get ready now, you don't prepare for a hurricane after it already has started—the wise thing to do is to get your plan in place before the hurricane strikes. Get your supplies stocked, your game plan ready, and if necessary, your exit route.
Perhaps in its own way this too can be seen as an act of resistance? They say, when the plane is crashing and the oxygen masks come down you have to be sure to put the mask on yourself before you help the person next to you.
Here is my loose and evolving plan, to be ready to bunker down and survive another Trump term if necessary.
Prepare
This is the stuff I plan to start doing right away. To have a good foundation already in place, no matter what the future holds.
1. Physical health is mental health
The single best thing you can do for your mental and emotional well-being is probably to just take good care of your physical health, to eat good, sleep well, and get plenty of exercise. For me this means focusing on a good weekly cardio routine, running, cycling, and that sort of thing.
2. Get Grounded - Yoga and meditation
Yoga is the most grounding single activity I know of. When you do a lot of yoga, as in a daily practice, you just end up feeling deeply grounded, rooted, relaxed in your body and soul. I'd like to get a solid yoga practice in place over the next year. Meditation on the other hand is less physically grounding and instead provides clarity and calm. A daily practice of mediation and yoga seem more important now than ever.
3. Community: face-to-face connections
I want to prioritize hanging out with friends, face to face. I've actually been doing a pretty good job with that lately. It's simply a matter of reaching out to people and inviting them to go do fun stuff.
The Gameplan
This is mainly a set of strategies for how to avoid media over-saturation, Trump, after all thrives on attention. I will give him none.
4. Delete Twitter
For me, Twitter became super addictive during the Trump years. If he gets reelected, that is the day I close down my Twitter account for good.
5. Minimize News intake
I also plan to avoid reading about Trump online. I plan to cancel my news subscriptions online. The problem with Online news is that it is a bottomless, and addictive buffet that feeds on your stress and worry, without ever making you feel satisfied. I'm not quite ready to be completely blind to the world's affairs, so I do plan to buy the news, on paper, as in yes, a physical newspaper. With this old-fashioned way of news consumption, you spend 10-15 minutes reading a couple articles then you’re done for the day. I'm not completely anti-news, I'm anti news addiction! I plan to just pick up the Sunday paper, and keep my news diet to a very manageable weekly, analog check in.
6. Block News Online
I want to look into software that will let me block news sites, on my own laptop, just to make it easier not to relapse. Like, throwing out all the cigarettes in the house before you quit smoking.
7. Get A Flip phone
I've kind of wanted to try this for a while anyhow. Not just because of politics, it seems like a good idea in general. This November, if Trump wins, that is the day I toss my iPhone in the junk drawer, and reclaim an hour or two of my focus and attention every single day.
8. Read the Classic
What to do with that extra hour of attention a day after I ditch my smartphone? I might start out by rereading Anna Karenina . . . and then see where the muse takes me.
9. Go Hiking
No matter how crazy and maddening the world gets, there is always peace to be found on quiet, wide-open trail.
Emergency Exit
10. Live Abroad
If all of the above isn't enough . . . well, I have always wanted to in Spain for a couple years!