ceelove

I get that the status quo is “overwhelmed” with a side order of “existential dread.” I really do. I appreciate that I am in an unusually good place, shielded from most of the effects of The Horrorshow and with sufficient resources to bear witness even if I feel helpless. I hope that writing this doesn’t come across as judgy or guilting; it’s not my intent, but it might anyway.

I’ve heard a number of people lately talking of having to pull away or shut down now, that they are out of cope. And I can simultaneously know that that is legit, and feel like maybe they aren’t taking advantage of an opportunity both to address their feelings of helplessness and have an impact on the situation.

So in case you aren’t already aware and taking action, I suggest SwingLeft.org and its scion site, thelastweekend.org. SwingLeft materialized after the 2016 election, for voters in districts too blue or red for their votes to make a difference to influence their nearest House swing district. It has scads of information on how to get involved at whatever level.

I’m hammering out the details of my volunteering now. I think I’ll be driving to NH district 1 on November 5 to canvas for Chris Pappas, staying over with another volunteer, then canvassing and getting voters to the polls on November 6. I waffled on this for weeks, but Swing Left’s webinar really did wonders to allay my anxieties about being to do it, both physically and emotionally.

Between now and the election, there’s phone banking and the last 50 of the 250 postcards to voters that I’ll be writing. It might be a bit late to get started on the latter if you haven’t already, as it takes a bit to get going; but if, like me, you really quite dislike talking to strangers and feel like you could hammer out a whole bunch of postcards in a week or so, postcardstovoters.org is your site. As to phone banking, it’s pretty much ongoing from now through the election, can be done from your own home, and again, Swing Left has a ton of info on how to get started.

If you seriously don’t know where to start, crushthemidterms.org will help you make a plan on how to best allocate your money, time, and cope.

We are in the fight of our lives, my friends. If you can hold the depression off for three weeks to put your resources towards the midterms, you’ll be more likely to have less reason to be depressed afterwards.