A Little Reset Before It All Begins
We are truly stronger together, and together we can get through almost anything.
As impossible as it seems, the holiday season is right around the corner. Now is a great time to center ourselves and prepare for whatever lies ahead.
Many of us are still reeling from the election results. We are adrift in emotions, not the least of which are anger and despair. Regaining some semblance of balance is necessary for our own mental health, as well as our ability to be present for our neighbors.
If you, or someone you love, is experiencing strong, unsettling emotions after the election, I strongly encourage you to watch this video. Commit to watching the full 6 minutes. It will be hard and helpful.
Emotion regulation and grounding provide a great foundation to begin the holidays. In addition, we’ll be able to shore up energy and resolve for future need.
Take a few minutes to try some of these grounding and renewing practices:
- go outside or sit by a window and pay attention to your senses
- make your favorite hot beverage and drink it slowly, noticing the taste, smell, feel
- write out all your feelings (feel free to destroy the writing when you are done)
- create art of any kind; enjoy the process of creating
- talk to a friend (in person, phone, online)
- help someone else
- be still (listen to music, pray, meditate)
- read or listen to an old favorite story
- write a letter to someone who influenced your life in a positive way
- start a gratitude journal, make sure to add at least one new gratitude a day
- seek out The Holy and keep track (at the end of the day, write out when The Holy was most present, and when The Holy seemed most distant)
- do something that brings you joy
This list isn’t exhaustive. Please add your ideas and practices in the comments.
No matter what you are feeling, remember that you are not alone. We are in this together, and together we can get through almost anything.
About Rachael Keefe
Rev. Dr. Rachael Keefe is the pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ. She was called to Living Table in 2015 after serving in many varied ministry settings since her ordination in 1992. She holds graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Seminary at Yale (formerly Andover Newton Theological School). Her ministry and leadership often center around advocacy and accessibility. Her writing has been published by Chalice Press, The Christian Century, Red Letter Christians, Working Preacher, RevGalBlogPals, and others. She is grateful to be in ministry with Living Table today.
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At our sister church, Morningside Hills UCC, where I played the service yesterday, and heard Rev. Oby Ballinger preach, he talked about joy. especially the word “freudenfreude”–a German conglomerate word meaning, “finding joy by celebrating the joys and successes of other people.” Near the end of the sermon, he asserted, “Joy is an act of resistance”! And I couldn’t agree more. I refuse to let the dark situations of these times take me down, rob me of joy. I can feel joy in the face of anger a despair–in fact, it’s one of the most potent antidotes to fear (along with it’s sister, gratitude).
Here’s some music that lifts my heart–and listen at the very end to this choir’s mission statement.
[no links in comments]
(Sorry, didn’t know we’re not allowed to show links. The inspirational music is “This Joy” on YouTube by Revival Resistance Choir.)
Doug, Sorry for the link snafu.
I added a bit of code to this website to disallow links in comments because there is still an inordinate amount of bot spam traffic directed here. I added a little panel in the dashboard, so you all can see the numbers on the bot traffic.
It’s in the dashboard under “WP Armour” and note that those numbers are the ones that got past all of the server-side security, and made their way all the way to the doorstep here to make comments. Those numbers should normally be zeros.
I put your youtube link back in though, which I can manually do (when I see it – sorry that I hadn’t). It’s not meant to block you from sharing links, just the bad guys.
I love the suggestions; I saw something too about getting out in nature in the actual world where it (and in my mind the spirit) has no incentive to have us be angry/anxious people – there is something profoundly spiritual in my mind – we are all one and in the universe – no matter how things are it doesn’t change that we are human – together in a universe – as we love, we create love, we generate it and it is a powerful force – we can’t lose that love
Suzanne, Thank you for your thoughtful response. Love, real love, is what we need and what connects us. And you’re right, we can’t lose it.