Some election day breaths

Breathing for the collective

Breathing for the collective. Breathing for / with / towards the collective, or: just breathing. With the collective in mind. With the intention of a better place, a better way.

Or just one breath.

Inhaling and exhaling. For a better world or for feeling a little better in this moment.

Or just to remember that we can notice when we are tensing and holding, forgetting to breathe. Good job noticing.

Remembering to breathe now. Tending to the tensing through noticing, exhaling.

A breath for all of this

I know that many people who read what I write here are not located in the United States, but I also know that the agonizing tension of our high-stakes debacle is felt all over.

That’s fun, our national nightmare is also an international nightmare, great stuff.

A breath for how much it all is. SO SO MUCH. A breath for the enormity of the stakes, the enormity of the ambient anxiety.

A breath for remembering that I don’t have to carry the worry of the world, I can tend to what’s mine in this moment.

Nourishment for the collective

A thousand points, at least, to me, for staying nourished, for anything I do to stay nourished.

I have heard that some brave heroes out there (friends of mine) have been getting some veggies in with today’s stress-eating, and good job to them.

If pumpkin is a vegetable, then my cake-for-breakfast pumpkin bread included some veggie content. Also there were jalapeños in one of my rounds of snacks. A+ work, good job to me.

It all counts. Nourishment is nourishing. My body knows how to extract nutrients from stress snacks too. Good job, wise body.

Good job to me. Good job to all of us. Blessings upon the nourishment.

A breath for whatever we are doing to take care of ourselves

Any self-care port in a storm, any port of focus in a storm, and this is a hell of a storm.

Seriously it is WILD out there today. The vibes are banana-pants, as someone from 2016 would say, and certainly the trauma of November 2016 feels very present right now.

Good lord, I keep having flashbacks to the underwater feeling of that moment, the shock-despair-horror-dread of 2016 and thinking: I AM NOT PREPARED. And yet, here we are.

A breath for acknowledging that this is really not fun

It’s not fun. It sucks!

Also, fuck the electoral college, how do we still not have a representative democracy where individual votes matter the way they should?

Also I keep thinking about how deeply embarrassing it is that we are somehow here again, in this preposterous and terrifying moment of too close for comfort, of so much is at stake but it could go either way.

Feels like waiting to find out if the meteor is a direct hit or just a very uncomfortable bump that will also probably be bad but not as bad. Good times.

A breath for having to exist right now. We are brave and stalwart, we are getting through this moment, however we get there.

Movement for the collective

A one song dance party for the collective.

Rolling around on the floor for the collective.

Shaking head no no no no no no to the nonsense, for the collective.

A favorite stretch for the collective. A gentle neck stretch for me, and maybe a reclining side twist.

A five minute walk (or backwards-walk!) for the collective. Maybe I will walk to the mailbox and back.

Did I do 888 extremely modified sun-salutations for the collective because when I am anxious I need to keep moving until I calm down? Yes, that was me. I will probably do some bonus-jogging around the kitchen because I am full of nervous energy that needs to be expended.

A breath for wishes of safety

A breath for all trans friends, you are in my heart, held in love, and I know that is not enough, but we are hoping hard, wishing hard, invoking, lighting candles, taking a breath. Safety and sanctuary for you and your loved ones.

A breath for everyone in danger in this moment, for all of us looking down the barrel, so to speak, bravely keeping on.

Taking a breath. Taking sixteen breaths.

Shifting the moment by being present in the moment and acknowledging the fear, making room for this very human experience.

And if you are not functioning or barely functioning, you are in good company. That’s a reasonable reaction to current reality.

Make some noise for the collective

Laughing at a silly video of a pile of puppies for the collective.

Cry-laughing for the collective.

Screaming into the abyss for the collective.

We are making some sounds.

Distractions for the collective

Reading something that takes place in a different world for the collective.

Enjoying art for the collective.

Appreciating something delicious and decadent for the collective. A little hedonism at the end of the world.

I made vegan vanilla gelato, and it is so good, and I brought some over to a friend’s place so it’s there in a moment of need, and I hope that moment of need is joyous and celebratory, full of relief, but either way it’s there.

Counting for the collective / counting on the collective

Counting all the ways that Now Is Not Then. This moment might remind me of November 2016, and yet so much is true now that was not true then.

Many things have changed for the better, in many ways I am more equipped for this moment. Counting and recounting.

Taking sixteen breaths for the collective

Having a good yawn or several yawns or thirty-eight yawns for the collective. Counting these too.

It all counts. Whatever we are doing. Good job getting through. Good job making your way through this emotional storm. We are here, we are taking breaths, we are here for each other. It counts.

Come play in the comments, I appreciate the company

You are welcome to share anything that sparked for you while reading, anything that helped or anything on your mind, wish some wishes, process what’s percolating…

I am lighting a candle for us and our beautiful heart-wishes. What a brave thing it is to allow ourselves to want something better for us and for the world.

Or if there’s anything you’d like to toss into the wishing pot, the healing power of the collective is no small thing, companionship helps.

Whatever comes to mind or heart. Let’s support each other’s hope-sparks…

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