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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
As every news outlet and everyone on social media and everywhere else has said since the crack of dawn, today is the day before election day. I’m sure many of us are feeling the same way, as in, nauseous and terrified and all the things you’d feel on, like, whatever the opposite of Christmas Eve would be. (There’s probably a very long, very specific German word for this.) This is stressful enough without the added nightmare that is the coronavirus pandemic, and as the clock continues to count down as we inch closer and closer to what, regardless of the outcome, will decidedly be Not The Chillest Day Ever, it’s important to check in with yourself and try to find a few moments of zen before shit hits the fan.
Here are a few simple, social distancing-friendly options for some thoroughly needed “me time” to help you unwind and clear your mind.
- Focus on your breathing. In through your nose, out through your mouth. But don’t focus too much on it to the point where all you can think about is the pandemic that’s decimating people’s lungs. Semi-focus on your breathing
- Do some yoga. The best election-and-pandemic yoga is just find a posture that hurts and lean into it to really take your mind off things!
- Delete Facebook. Not necessarily because it’ll help in this moment, but just for your general health
- Dip your toe into a new hobby! Like knitting, or origami, or throwing kitchen knives should this country descend into complete chaos. Or knitting!
- Let out some cathartic screams into a pillow, a couch cushion, or into the phone when your mom calls to ask how you’re doing
- Cry. The best part about this one is you can do it anywhere!
- Take a long hot shower. If you want to get really luxurious about it, you can scream and cry while you’re in there!
- Treat yourself to some retail therapy and stay prepared for whatever the shit the future may bring by buying an entire shelf of Plan-B!
- Redirect all the frustration and confusion and raw anger you’re feeling by rewatching the final season of Game of Thrones or 2009 thriller/sci-fi The Box
- Stare at a wall
- Stare at a different wall
- Get out a blank journal and some gel pens and create a super aesthetically pleasing contingency plan to escape the country should we be faced with total fascism. Color coordinate that shit!
- Put fresh sheets on your bed, roll yourself up in your them so tightly it’s almost uncomfortable, shuffle over to your closet and situate yourself in there like a broom, stay there forever
- Give yourself a makeover. Been thinking of cutting your own bangs for a while? Go for it! What about a DIY piercing? Don’t even Google how to do it! This is the perfect time to commit to a full breakdown
- Go for a nice lengthy stroll, get lost in nature, find a bear, tell it you’ve made your peace and you’re ready to go
- Can’t find a bear? Befriend the squirrels and birds you meet on your way! If democracy does end up crumbling into dust the more allies you have the better
