Pretty much every woman I speak to is stressed out. Really
stressed out. We are having trouble concentrating
at work. We can’t seem to get work done in a timely manner. What’s up and how
can we help ourselves?
It should come as no surprise to anyone that as a humanist –
I really don’t like Trump. He scares me. Not only is he a bully that routinely
dehumanizes people he disagrees with – he’s a bully, which means he also has
autocratic dictatorial tendencies. I
happen to like democracy and human rights and things like that, so what this
guy and his enablers might do to our democracy – has me worried.
Even if you like Trump, and many do, there are a lot of
people who are just as worried about “liberals destroying America” as I am of
Trump destroying America. And when you think about it, that’s a pretty sorry
state of affairs. We are being played against each other by politicians and
Putin. The solution to that is to remember we are all humans and not evil. We
all pretty much want the same things.
But back to self care. Given our fear levels and stress
levels and the need to safeguard all we hold near and dear, we need to engage
in some serious self care. I don’t view self care as an abdication of my
responsibilities to other. I view it as an important part of my activism.
By taking care of myself. By taking time to enjoy the little
and big things in life. And yes, by getting on with the normalcy of life, I not
only reduce my stress levels, I also remind myself what it is I am fighting
for.
Albert Camus wrote and fought in WWII in Europe. He struggled
to keep his humanity and to remember the humanity of the people he fought. And
he wrote about his struggles to maintain a sense of beauty and humanity in
himself during the struggles. His essay Return to Tipasa is about exactly this
and I am linking to it here. https://genius.com/Albert-camus-return-to-tipasa-annotated
“For violence and hatred dry up the heart itself; the long fight for justice exhausts the love that nevertheless gave birth to it. In the clamor in which we live, love is impossible and justice does not suffice. This is why Europe hates daylight and is only able to set injustice up against injustice. But in order to keep justice from shriveling up like a beautiful orange fruit containing nothing but a bitter, dry pulp, I discovered once more at Tipasa that one must keep intact in oneself a freshness, a cool wellspring of joy, love the day that escapes injustice, and return to combat having won that light.”
If you are struggling with anger – consider taking this
course by Dr Leon Seltzer: https://humanistlearning.com/angermanagement101/
If you want to learn how to advocate for your positions
without being a jerk about it take this one: https://humanistlearning.com/socratic-jujitsu/
If you need help learning how to cope and integrate your
values into your day to day life – take this one: http://humanistlearning.info/livingmadesimpler1/
If you want to learn how to overcome your hidden biases
against other people so you can once again view them as truly human – take this
free course: https://humanistlearning.com/controlling-our-unconscious-bias/
And finally, if you want to learn how to sort out the
falsehood from truth – take this course: https://humanistlearning.com/realitybaseddecisionmaking/
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