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A daily series, Connect! Unite! Act! seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups regularly socialize but also get out the vote, support candidates and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers-that-be. Visit us at Daily Kos every morning at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time to see how you can get involved. The comment thread is fun and light-hearted, but we're serious about moving the progressive political agenda forward. |
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To quote Rachel Maddow:
You’re awake by the way.
You’re not having a terrible, terrible dream.
Also you’re not dead and you haven’t gone to hell.
This is your life now.
This is our election now.
This is us. This is our country.
It’s real.
Somehow we have all made it through this first week of Donald Trump, President-Elect.
Please share some of the things you have done to manage the stress, vent the anger, I have had some ridiculous mood swings.
In the past week I have literally spent hours listening to Paul McCartney’s Bluebird on loop, arms resting on my stomach, right hand clasping my left wrist, gently rocking backward and forward in a stupor that could probably get me committed if the wrong mental health professional observed it. It is strangely soothing, almost like a physical meditation, and it does usually calm me down. In fact I have Bluebird on now as I am writing this, but I am not rocking back and forth because I am typing!
I’ve also wasted a lot of time with an online computer game called Monkey Gems. Concentrating on a mindless distraction like that is relaxing because you can’t think about two things at once: I can’t freak out about Newt Gingrich as Secretary of State while I am on the “double S” screen trying to make a match of three blue gems to create an opening to throw the clear gem through to hit the bunch of grapes for 250 points...
Sadly, I have also done some stress eating, but fortunately I figured out relatively quickly that no amount of food was going to quash the whirlwind of anger, fear and utter incomprehension that fills my mind in the wake of this horrendous election outcome. Last night I decided the best revenge was taking better care of myself to be strong for the fight, so I made a healthy dinner and it felt like a major victory. Things are bad and I do not have to make them worse with self-harm activities like bingeing. The other side *wants* us to be incapacitated in a drunken stupor or hashish high or a sugar coma instead of regrouping and making plans for 2018 and 2020. Maybe that will finally get me to eat right and exercise and sleep every day if I think it will help me get revenge on the red team.
I haven’t done any common sense things like reaching out to friends (I isolated myself in my apartment for five whole days as if I had the flu or something), seeking light-hearted entertainment (I understand some folks have been binge-watching classic comedy), or taking political action (it has been great to hear about folks contacting their local level Democratic committees and/or deciding to run for office).
This isn’t over. The fight goes on. We need to lick our wounds for a while and then come out swinging. This is just the first day of the battle of Shiloh. Hitting bottom means we have nowhere to go but up. But first we have to figure out a way to calm down and collect ourselves and get past this initial shock any way we can.
So if anything has been working to keep you sane, please share. I know I need ideas and I bet a lot of other folks could use some help also.
Question of the day:
What have you been doing to calm yourself down, keep your spirits up, vent your anger, or push yourself to take action over the last week?
Start up soundtrack
skeptics mess with the confidence in my eyes
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cut me down, but it’s you who’ll have further to fall
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life’s a piece of shit, when you look at it...
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bet you think that everything good is gone
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i know I do it better when I’m being opposed
As always, this is an Open Thread!
LET'S BUILD IN-REAL-LIFE COMMUNITIES!
Our team is here to provide support and guidance to new and existing volunteer leaders of each regional and state group, helping them with recruiting, organizing and executing social and action events. We invite you to join in this effort to build our community. There are many ways to pitch in. If there isn't a group to join near you, please start one.
The orange pinpoints are the location of each organized group of Daily Kos readers. If you'd like to join a group, click on a point and a box will pop up showing contact links. If you'd like to start a group, contact navajo for instructions.
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
Colorado: Sunday Mornings
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Missouri: Wednesday Evenings
Kansas: Monday Evenings
Let us know if you’ve got any events that would be of interest to other readers of Daily Kos IN-YOUR-REAL-LIFE space.
RSVP for SF Bay Area Event on 11/19
Denver Caffeinating Liberally 11/26!
SFKossacks Holiday Party!
Saturday, November 19th, 1:00 PM, Wine Country in the town Windsor. Private residence address will be given to the folk who RSVP.
Please send navajo a kosmail to RSVP and state your potluck item. We need non-alcoholic beverages, appetizers, side dishes, (plus vegetarian versions) salads, and bread. Ice and large ice chests, too! Dessert is covered.
Also tell navajo if you need to carpool. AND! Dogs okay. FTW! No livestock, though.
RSVP & POTLUCK LIST:
1. Andrew McGuire—Host, handling the charcoal and weber grills!
2. navajo—Whole salmon for bbq for whole crowd, 8 six-packs of beer and all the dessert
3. Meteor Blades—Two cans of Spam
4. side pocket—2 bottles of (French) sauvignon blanc & deviled eggs
5. Mrs. side pocket
6. smileycreek—Mini jalapeno polenta cups
7. paradise50—
8. Glen The Plumber—
9. remembrance—Dessert
10. TLO
11. jotter—One case of wine
12. aha aha
13. dsb—Ice in an ice chest, baguettes & cheese
14. marge—Curried potatoes and roasted vegetables
15. kimoconnor—
16. maggiejean—Salad
17. elfling—
18. Hunter
19. elfling/Hunter offspring, not livestock
20. Lorikeet—side dish
21. norm—
22. jck—side dish
23. Lusty—Vegetable side dish
24. ebby—Chinet plates, utensils, disposable cups and napkins
25. basket—Non-alcoholic beverages
26. edrie—
27. sfpcnik—Vegetarian dish
28. Mr. sfpcnik
29. gravlax—Chef prepared veggie dish, no pressure...
30. boatsie—cake or pie
31.
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Maybees:
Silky & Dixie the doggie
citisven
Deb
lmccapp & Daisy the doggie
Imccapp’s BF
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Leftcandid and ColoTim, leaders of Daily Kos’s endorsed Colorado Community, would like to invite you to our Caffeinating Liberally meet-ups in November and December. Our next one will be on November 26th, followed by one on December 17th. We meet at the Common Grounds Coffee House, 44th and Vallejo, in Denver from 9:00 AM to noonish at the table by the piano. Come meet fellow Daily Kos readers and other like-minded folk, to enjoy wake-up coffee to start your weekend off and discuss how we take back America. For questions and RSVP's, you can contact Leftcandid or ColoTim.
NEW GROUPS FORMING:
navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries about your event or if you have changes or additions.