Archive
Rolling with Resistance
To be in opposition to authoritarianism is right and proper and good. Trump pardoning the January 6th insurrectionists raises the chance of street violence by both sending a message and releasing violent empowered organizers back to the street.
We are moving into dangerous times. I see the punching Nazi memes spread widely. I see the don’t just say you see Proud Boys but say how many, engaged in what tactics, armed how, and exactly where.
This preparation for street fighting seems reminiscent of the German socialists street fighting the fascist youth. It played into Hitler’s hands to see more power. Street violence plays into the hands of the authoritarians.
I would call for other tactics than street violence. In a counseling technique called motivational interviewing it talks about rolling with resistance. We don’t engage directly with the unhelpful bullshit but allow it to pass by.
Undermine the authority of the dominant paradigm through the simple act of telling the truth and not buying into the gaslighting. Humor and mockery and pointing out the absurdity of their actions. Being reasonable and unperturbed and not taking their bait is in order.
We need to remember our audience. Those folks who don’t follow the news, have little factual information and have real issues that were not addressed by the Bidenomics of rising prices, housing costs, and lack of opportunity.
Trump is at his highest approval underwater at a little less than 2% negative. If he can be brought down to 10% negative the Supreme Court and Senate may set some limits to this lame duck would be authoritarian.
Or we can engage him in rhetorical battles of his choosing where our complex truths are less compelling than his simple lies and we lose the middle. His hurting his voters by ending $35 insulin is lost in the culture wars and his executive orders trump the constitution because no one who can will hold him accountable.
The choice is ours. To be strategic and disciplined, true and right and shape what comes next for justice or be reactive and right and lose it all but the boot smashing in our face for all eternity. Or something entirely different, I don’t know, I just need to do my best to build something good.
The Secret of Overwhelm
There are a couple of secrets to dealing with feeling overwhelmed. Our fast paced modern life often feels like far more is expected of us than we can actually deliver. Overwhelm can result in frenetic activity that doesn’t bring results, like spinning your wheels, shutting down and not doing anything, or perhaps worse yet getting the “fuck it’s”, where we start doing behaviors we ordinarily would never do.
Learning to handle overwhelm with grace has been a skill I have been forced to develop. I remember when I was leading a multidisciplinary team working with hard to serve individuals in a behavioral health program and my Manager said: “You look like you feel overwhelmed”.
I said: “I don’t feel overwhelmed, I am overwhelmed.” The issue was not my emotional regulation it was the material factors of the job I was assigned to do.
My first tip is differentiate, is this a feeling or is it a situation that truly exists? If it’s a feeling we use our reliable feelings management skills of taking a moment to slow and deepen our breath. Note any tense areas, I carry my stress in my neck and shoulders, so stretching and relaxing those areas are a must for me.
Note your thinking. Question and challenge any thinking that is contributing to the feeling. Can we look at something differently to get a different result? In addition to challenging negative self talk launch some positive self talk to encourage and soothe yourself. If those helpful and comforting thoughts don’t immediately come to mind, think about what you would say to a friend.
If it’s an actual situation of being overwhelmed then prioritizing and strategically addressing the confounding issues is the key. I rank what I have to do and mostly tackle the most important things first. When you’re taking action you focus on that task with your whole attention and let the rest go until it’s their turn.
We can only do one, or sometimes two things at a time. Don’t try to tackle more than that. Make your list and work through it, most important things first. That’s it. Manage your feelings and strategically work your way back to control.
That one was for me today friends. Time to get back at the immediate concerns of the day. Thanks for reading.
Multiconstruct 
Recent Comments