How to Survive the Coming Trumpocalypse

The next four years are going to be all about self-preservation. Here are some steps I’m taking (or have already taken) in order to preserve my sanity and suggest you take in order to preserve yours:

1. Contact your elected representatives. The first thing I did Wednesday morning was call my Congressman, Daniel Goldman, to express my shock/outrage/sadness over the election results and ask if there was anything I could do to help. Unfortunately, the young woman who answered the phone wasn’t very helpful (I don’t think they’re allowed to give political advice), but at least I made my feelings known. (Dan, if you're reading this, call me.)
2. Organize. I contacted the Women’s March. If you recall, they held the largest such gathering in history after Trump’s last election (I can’t believe I’m saying that), organizing marches across the country and around the world. I attended their “Election Reflection & Healing Justice Gathering” Zoom meeting last night. It was kind of hokey (although several attendees in the chat were eating it up), kind of like a guided meditation, but it was good to be in the presence of like-minded people. I was hoping for information on a New York City march (there is one in Washington, D.C. this Saturday, November 9), but none was forthcoming. There’s a “Mass Actions Organizing Call” Zoom meeting tomorrow (November 8) which I’m planning to attend, so I’ll see if that’s any better.
3. Apply for/renew your passport. I renewed mine this morning. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to move to another country (and I love New York City—I sometimes refer to it as the “Independent Republic of New York City”), but it’s good to have just in case of an emergency. This is all about empowerment.
4. Spend time with friends and/or family (assuming you’re still talking to them). I spent today, an unseasonably mild day, in the park with a friend of mine and it was a healing experience. (Again, like-minded people.) Nature/the outdoors can also be healing.
5. Limit your TV news diet. I’m severely limiting mine because I can’t stand to look at or listen to Donald Trump. If necessary, I’ll read the New York Times, but I’m limiting my exposure to PBS News Hour (which is great and unbiased, but may still expose me to Trump) and, more importantly, MSNBC (which is unabashedly partisan and only fuels my anger), both of which I used to watch avidly.
6. Limit or cut off your exposure to Trump voters. I know this one’s a little controversial (cf. Bill Maher and his "Kumbaya" sensibility). I’ve spent the last year sounding the alarm about Trump and trying to reason with the few Trump voters in my circle and look what happened: Most Americans voted for him anyway. If watching the January 6th insurrection and seeing/listening to all the things he said and did on the campaign trail (not to mention his four years in office) weren’t enough to convince you that he was unfit to be president (see my related post, “Hate Wins (Again)"), I’m not wasting my breath anymore. I’m done. You are hereby cut off. (If I still have friends who voted for Trump and they’re reading this, they’ll probably be too embarrassed to admit it.)
7. Self-care: Eat right. Exercise. Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. Don’t do drugs. Get plenty of rest. Doing these six things is good advice any time, but especially now.
8. Create. Write, act, sing, paint, etc. Artists are always at the forefront of social change (and usually the first to be punished under a dictatorship), so keep doing what you’re doing. (Easier said than done, considering my parenthetical statement.) I, for one, will not be silenced.
9. Limit your exposure to social media, especially Twitter. I’m debating whether or not to delete my Twitter account. Fortunately, I’m spared most of the right-wing hate and misinformation because of the “For You” feature, and some of it can be useful (I quoted a thread in my aforementioned post). But now that Trump has actually been elected, what’s the point? And I’m a little uncomfortable about contributing to anything that could benefit Elon Musk. Also: If I see a Trump supporter on any of my social media, I will block, unfollow or unfriend them.

If anyone has any other ideas, I’d be happy to hear them. And if I should mysteriously “disappear,” you know who to blame.