Breathe and Keep Your Balance

Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

VP Kamala Harris’s candidacy news, followed by the announcement of Tim Walz as her running mate, transformed a seemingly moribund campaign mood into a bumping party. There is a noticeable shift in momentum and the feeling among Democratic voters mirrors the joyful brilliance of Harris’s smile.

Many voters’ smiles are oscillating between grimaces induced by the latest reports coming from the opposition’s campaign. Unfortunately, the Harris/Walz campaign’s optimism and hopeful vision for America’s future don’t seem to hold the same appeal for most of this country’s news services. The news media is captivated by the continual deluge of lies, doom and fear coming from an authoritarian right-wing menace and its devoted underlings. In addition to if it ‘bleeds it ledes’, now fear, racism and rage will always get front page.

I admit that I’m keenly interested in all of the latest campaign developments, as this election heads into the closing laps of its marathon length. Ok, maybe obsessed is a better description. Is this unhealthy? Uhhmmm…maybe. I hope not but it’s highly likely that it could become an unhealthy obsession if it hasn’t already. I don’t want to advocate for the abandonment of keeping informed. I also don’t want to burn out, or see that happen to the majority of people intent on protecting hard fought freedoms.

A few weeks ago, I happened upon the Substack, Let’s Get Our Hands Dirty. One post titled Open Your Senses to What’s Really Important, makes a sensible appeal to stay informed and passionate about this election, while not losing sight of other important things. While it specifically focuses on centering environmental concerns, the message to not get swept up too completely in election coverage at the expense of other things is applicable to other aspects of people’s lives.

That point is encapsulated in this passage near the beginning:

Meanwhile, let’s concentrate on things we can do to make the world a better place for us all. The best way to do that is to lead by example and show, not tell, our fellow earthlings that we care about them and the planet we share by respecting Mother Earth.

This does not mean that news suddenly doesn’t matter. It still does. I will not claim that the upcoming election isn’t a choice between a dystopian, racist, classist, misogynistic dictatorship and a vibrant democracy slowly realizing the promises of its founding documents. It still is. At the same time, a hamster wheel of hate-reading the New York Times (or some other formerly venerated news source, now devolved into a tabloid rag), rage-posting in response to every irresponsible fact-check-free report of a convicted felon’s lies, and remaining on high alert for another news break to repeat the cycle isn’t a great way to live.

Orange Julius lies. He lies all the time and does it so floridly and effortlessly that the news media now just shrugs in response. His stamina for lying outlasted theirs to hold him to account. Neither he nor their coverage of him will change. Screw ‘em both. We know the truth, so when we hear people we know spouting nonsense, we can correct them with facts, even if we think it’s a lost cause.

Also, if we’re that mad about the coverage, why keep going back to the same sour and tainted wells? Dislike, unsubscribe, don’t click and don’t visit. Do you keep buying meals from a restaurant that regularly gives you salmonella, only to complain and return daily like clockwork? No. You don’t. Don’t do that with news coverage either.

We also know the truth about the accomplishments of the Biden/Harris administration and why our country should build on its policies. Their wins are underreported at best and ignored at worst. We can remind people we know about these achievements. I catalogued some of their many successes here in another piece defending Biden’s bid for reelection before he decided to drop out. Crib those if you want a running start and add any that I’ve forgotten to your list. As a matter of fact, mention any that I’ve forgotten in the comments of that piece, if you’re so inclined. I won’t refuse any supplements to my own arsenal.

Still, there is more to life than the mindless horse race and thoughtless parroting of inflammatory, baseless claims without context that modern political coverage has become.

Let’s take moments away from the spin cycle to catch our breath. After whatever safe practice you use to find calm, get out and live. Spend time on other pursuits. Watch a sport. Better yet, play a sport. Don’t play any sports? Try one out and see if you like or have a knack for it. If it doesn’t work out, sell any equipment from it that others can use and try something else. There’s no shame in trying and not liking something. There’s also no shame in not doing anything at all, especially if we find it restorative. We can’t help others if we’re worn down ourselves.

Hang out with your spouse or partner, family and friends. Take in a play or hit a concert, preferably outdoors to take in the last vestiges of summer’s warmth. Go out to the movies and watch whatever you enjoy, whether a period piece, superhero flick, romance, tragicomedy or something else.

Eat something decadent. Extra points are awarded for something with an explosion of flavor and dubious nutritional value. You only fly on this plane of existence once. Eat it before an event, after it, both or not coinciding with any other thing at all.

We’ve got a dog, a famously affectionate Labrador Retriever. He’s adorable, always looking to play, always has an appetite for treats and occasionally willing to work for them. His unbridled, unconditional love can’t be replaced or its virtues extolled enough. If you’ve got a pet, whatever that animal may be, spend time with them and be fully present. That’s the kind of focus they’re giving you, so don’t they deserve that?

That quality of being present is big, maybe the key thing. It’s something I am particularly bad at. I have a difficult time focusi—wow, it looks like another storm is on the—sorry where was I? Oh right. I have a hard time staying focused and probably got that way chasing the ever-elusive goal of proficient multi-tasking. We were told we could accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously, like a computer chip calculating parallel streams of information with high quality. We now know this is bad advice, and the best I ever did was bursts of focus on small parts of larger projects until the project’s mediocre conclusion.

This migrated into my personal life and maybe yours too. We are doom scrolling on the phone and intermittently replying to texts, in the midst of fits and starts of an email response, all while barely listening to someone talking to us in the same room. If our pets deserve our presence, don’t others, including partners, family, friends, scheduled events and the natural world at large?

Let’s commit to give whoever we are with or whatever we are doing at the time undivided attention. The world won’t stop turning or burning, but others are handling it while we’ve stepped away for a break. We’ll resume when their shift ends, and let them focus on the people, places and spaces where they’re needed.

There are times we will all be needed for the same thing at the same time, like election night this November. In the meantime, we’re needed elsewhere. We can’t be everywhere at once, although there are many needs everywhere. If we do our best to be present where we are, we may address needs we did not know existed as we focus on the people, times and places of each moment we exist in. Laser focused care, attention and sparks of joy, with that granular aim scaled up and broadly distributed by the people who know the recipients the best. Imagine.