Jane Tuttle

We need to talk for a minute, because things could fall apart next week. I know a lot of Dems all around the country are half or higher intoxicated with the how things will be better when we win back control of the Senate and the House on Nov 3, but I also know we were stumbling drunk on our own endorphins on what should have been the eve of the election of Hillary Clinton. A little bit of psychological and practical prep now can do a lot to reduce the initial shock and the freeze response on Nov 4th this year, if things go badly. If we need to shift into Long-Term Resistance mode, instead of Victory mode, we can’t afford a long lag while we dwell and wallow. So, just a handful of things we can do: • Visualize and absorb the potential negative outcome. Taking a little time to think about how you will be running on a mix of grief, anger, and autopilot for a while, which will help you avoid being thrown off when they hijack your brain. • Flip the switch in your head. As soon as (and every time) you switch from thinking “Oh my god, we’re doomed; all is lost” or “the world is broken; America is unsavable” or so on, and instead think “OK, what’s next?” or “What can I do to soften the damage,” you switch from the emotional overload of the amygdala and into the frontal cortex. That halts the flood of systemic stress chemicals and opens the tap on neurotransmitters that promote stability, focus, and logical processing. • Change your framework from victim “how long until I/we can heal from this disaster” and instead anchor around the idea of anti-fragility. That’s the powerful quality of things that are actually made stronger and more resilient by stress or overload. Think of ways we already rock at that, like building muscle by constant overload and building immunity through exposure to invaders and vaccines. • Put together a list of small tasks and processes so you can stay in motion even when you are running in a dampened state. Maybe that means meeting and sending out notes of support with people in your network to be supportive of each other. Maybe that is putting a timeline together so you are already thinking about milestones to the next election and small wins you could achieve to get you on the way. Whatever fits with your skillset and is likely to motivate you a little bit. Make them small at first—easy to do even if you are in a crummy mood or tired or full of lame excuses not to do it. Actions of any size are huge in terms of resilience and recovery. I know from years of teaching at all grade levels that the vast majority of you will not take this to heart any more than reminders not to start your term paper the week before it is due, but for those that this does help—each one means one more anchor that others can look to and rally around if things veer toward dystopia.