Five Ways to Stay Calm in the Storm

#1:  Relegate News, Commentary and Political Subjects to One or Two Days Per Week

You know how it goes. One article leads to the next. Local news leads to national news and world news. That one opinion piece in the “NY Times” that you just had to read – because damn, you are paying for that monthly subscription – really pissed you off and now your blood is circulating. Then you watched that YouTube video that covered the latest scandal and daydreamed for a moment about something you would never do. If this is your daily routine, then I have a question for you:

“What in hell’s name are you doing to yourself?”

Stop the cycle. Find other things to occupy that time – even if it is as unproductive as watching a 1950’s comedy show rerun like “I Love Lucy”. Do a chore you’ve been putting off. Pick up a book. Call a friend. Text someone you’ve not seen in months. Walk the dog. Pull weeds. Make a list of 10 things you want to accomplish this week and get them done. But don’t gorge yourself on news, opinions and political social media that makes you unhealthy. The time to change that is now.

#2:  Cull, Curate and Calenderize Social Media

Is X excruciating? Freeze or delete your account and then delete the app from your devices. Are you allowing Meta to manipulate you? Your timeline, Messenger texts, Reels, links to Instagram posts, Instagram posts linking to Threads, Whatsapp loaded on your devices, despite it sitting unused, people sending you SMS messages that link to Facebook posts, Reels, Instagram posts, Threads posts, on and on and on and you almost want to scream “Make it stop!” Ahem. The mirror. Look into it. 

You’re the only one who can make it stop. There is something on each of those apps that we all appreciate, but combined they equally unending stress. Pause your accounts and give yourself a break. Can’t do that? Sort through the groups you belong to and figure out which ones you need to see to stay current. Write them down. Now, relegate Facebook and anything Meta to Fridays. Meanwhile, log out of the apps so that it becomes “a pain in your ass” to access the content, because of the login process and need to do multi-factor authentication. Oh – if you don’t have multi factor authentication turned on, then you are a prime victim for hacking, data hijacking and all sorts of problems. So, fix that first.

What else? Tiktok? Tuesdays. Reddit? Wednesdays. Substack? Saturday or Sunday. You don’t need daily access to these things unless you are intentionally tracking the daily progress of something. And, if you’re tracking the daily progress of government then you are tracking futility.

#3:  Democracy Daily:  Five Minutes to Feeling Accomplished

Do things you WANT to do. Get dirty in the garden. Read the book that you keep dusting off.  

Replace the garage door gasket at the door bottom. Sign up for a competition. Meet your friends that you’ve not seen in 3 months, for a decadent breakfast. Do something that proves to you that you are in control – because you are not in control of politics, government or the events that unfold each day across the nation.

SPOIL yourself. (You deserve “me” time.)

Then, to feel like you are doing something that supports your values, volunteer for one or two causes that support democracy. If that would take up too much time, be up front and state “This is how much time I can offer per week, so where could I help, within that limit.” 

Other alternatives are to write, call and/or visit your elected officials at their offices. In person visits will likely be attended by staff, but they will listen and take your message so it can be passed along.

#4:  Preparedness

Practice common sense emergency preparedness. Think about power, water, food, shelter and first aid security. Then hook yourself up with resources that teach you what to do. There are books, courses and YouTube channels that can equip you with the skills you need so that the unknown of an outage, severe storm or even political unrest does not seem as scary as it might be when we think about it.  

Be careful on YouTube because some of the channels are hosted by people who do lean one way or the other, politically. A very good, science-based, common sense and non-political channel – one that tolerates zero snark in the comments and quickly blocks persons who belittle or insult – is RoseRed Homestead. Jim and Pam Cantrell are people you would want for next door neighbors, no matter who you are. Find them here:  https://www.youtube.com/@RoseRedHomestead.

#5:  Go Within

Still your mind with meditation. Oh – I know what you’re going to say: “I tried that. It doesn’t work. My mind just starts thinking about everything!” Yeah, you and everyone else. Do you expect to run a championship race without proper training? Meditation, like every other skill, takes practice. Start with 5 minutes and gradually build up over the course of 2 to 3 months. Strive to reach 30 minutes. Unable to be in silence? You will find guided meditations from multiple creators on YouTube. 

Want more structured training? You will find loads of courses on Udemy and similar platforms. Pro tip:  Wait for Udemy to have one of their frequent sales. You’ll purchase your preferred class for ⅕ of the full price. Short list the ones that interest you and then pounce when the sale starts.

The physical, mental and emotional benefits of meditation are so worth the effort. And you are worth every minute of self care you can give to yourself.

In Summary

Calmness doesn’t just happen. Especially when times seem turbulent, it is up to us to take responsibility for ourselves and actively work at creating habits that calm and nurture us, in the pursuit of wellbeing. Part of being calm is having an element of control. You have control over your news consumption, social media usage, participation, preparedness and self care every single day – as long as you actively take control and stop allowing the world to wrench it from you. Just like eating, too much of one thing can make a person feel ill.   Curate your days and weeks for maximum benefit. And never be afraid to say “No” to something. Sometimes, “no” is the best “yes” word a person can use.

By Joe Castagliola, Democracy Is Us Council Member