Ways to stay (slightly) sane in post-election daze

Holding signs of solidarity at the Islamic Center of Western Massachusetts

There is so much to get upset about during this post-election season. Did you ever say a word over and over again until it doesn't make sense? Like the word irked? Some of it is extremely upsetting and some of it is a nagging IRK.

I have kept pretty quiet around the people who watch my dog, but for the first time the other night when I went to pick her up I just couldn't control myself.

Attorney Tahirah A. Wudud gives situation update

"How do you like your guy's cabinet picks?"
"How do you like the way he bullied that nice union boss?" (Chuck Jones, who called out Trump's Carrier deal.)

Answer: "We voted for him and he's our president and you Democrats have to get over it. The country couldn't be any worse than it's been for the past eight years." Huh?

During the election, when we had one brief discussion, I mentioned that the unemployment rate was way down and got this answer: "You people believe what you want to believe." So it is a dead end and they are super nice people and they love my dog and I couldn't do what I do without them so I know I have to keep quiet.

I really need them when I go to Boston. I don't actually need them that much otherwise except that having Maddie go there is a win win situation. They love her and she loves to go there so much that when I open the car door she runs up to the house. If I tell her she's going to stay home she gives me that mournful look. (Who's the boss?) When I pick her up she goes over to each one and says goodbye.

Yesterday I told them that I was going to a mosque. I didn't finish the sentence with the reason I was going to the interfaith gathering at the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts. It was of course to stand up against the hate incited against Muslims and Jews by the President Elect.

It was a cold dark night but I was glad I went. The spirit was amazing. I talked to a lot of people in the standing room crowd and signed up for something (not sure what) on a sheet where people stated their desire to help. There were more than 200 people, and we all got served a delicious dinner. One of the members of the mosque was a student of mine at The Literacy Project and she took me into the kitchen full of brimming platters and told me to make myself a plate. (Others were doing the same.) So, dinner tonight.

I found out about the event through the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts. I would like to do more. It fits into number 1 on a 10-part plan of not losing my mind or harming my health over this insanity.

1: Do something (i.e. get out of my head).
2: Donate to more causes within my means. It was hard to chose but I picked: ProPublica (journalism in the pubic interest), Environmental Defense Fund, Anti-Defamation League,  and, drumroll...Planned Parenthood.
3: Talk it over with like-minded people.
4: Pet the dog, walk the dog, talk to the dog.
5: Exercise (TENNIS, yoga, spinning).
6: Write.
7: Limit TV news (bye-bye Morning Joe, one MSNBC program and no more at night).
8: Read about something else.
9: Plan a trip (I'm going to Florida!)
10: Do something nice. I got my dentist and his staff an edible arrangement made of fruit. Because he is so nice to me and gives me the best price he can and because the staff is so friendly. Kind of like my "Cheers"...sigh.
11. Watch and rewatch old and new Gilmore Girls episodes. Because.

When the news gives you nightmares

In my dream, I was hanging out with George W. Bush. He had just won re-election again. He seemed like a regular guy. I asked him what he thought of Donald Trump. I said to myself, compared to Trump, he doesn't seem so bad. (I think I got this in my brain because I read somewhere that now Mitt Romney doesn't seem so bad.)

We walked by an old boyfriend. The boyfriend gave Bush a half-hearted congratulations, saying, "Congratulations...I guess." Then he started screaming at Bush, and I had to drag him out of the room. I said that if he wanted to get anything done, he would need to speak more calmly. I knew why he hated Bush so much, because I felt the same way. "If it weren't for his bombing of Iraq, the Islamic State would not have arisen from the chaos," I said.

We had a meeting. Bush said he couldn't remember what Planned Parenthood does. I said, "It provides vital healthcare to women." Then, someone started a fire. I bunch of us were running, running, unable to see where we were going. I ran through the Wesleyan campus and then wanted to get to Vassar. I asked Siri for walking directions, but she was busy talking to some people I could hear in the background. "Pay attention to your job!" I yelled.

We found our way out of the smoke and ended up at a little house where the people took us in. I was drenched from running in the rain and needed a warm shower. We looked out to the road and saw a stream of people coming to the house (refugees?) The owners said they didn't know how they could accommodate all those people, but they let us in and we had to scramble up some small stairs to where we could take that shower. (I think we still had Bush with us.)

I was missing school, no, actually it was work. But the worst part was when I looked in my bag and saw that I had only one of the boots that I had bought in Spain. I said I'll never replace it. Someone said it's probably in your other suitcase, and I hoped it was. I think this comes from having thought I lost one of the earrings Katie had bought me in Rome, and being so down on myself for not putting the little plastic thingies on the back, and then finding it in the couch.

Well, that covers just about everything.

After going to the Odyssey with a friend on Small Business Saturday last week and buying some books that I want to read, I bemoaned the fact that I am don't read as many books as I would like to. She asked what I was doing. I said, reading the newspaper, watching the news, checking out Twitter, checking Facebook, starting first thing in the morning. She said the news can wait and suggested I get up and read a book.

The next day, I read a story headlined, Addicted to Distraction. The author wrote that he was horrified to find that when reading a book, he realized he was reading the same line over and over, having lost the ability to concentrate. It is an interesting story that probably speaks to many of us. Among his distractions was "hungrily searching for new tidbits about the presidential campaign." He tried a detox just to see if he could do it. He succeeded, partially, but then drifted back.

I grew up needing to know. When we went on vacation, my father bought two copies of The New York Times so nobody would have to wait. My mother took hers to bed at night. She, too, sometimes had trouble getting to a book because she needed to read the paper first. We discussed politics and current events. It is not by chance that I found my way to a newspaper job.

The world is a train wreck; the Republican race is scary. It is hard to turn your head away. But clearly a break is in order. I am going to spend a lot of time reading a book this weekend. My only schedules events are walking Maddie and going to yoga. But first, I have to read The New York Times and check the TV news.