I’d like to be able to tell you that I’ve developed enough resilience by now to adequately weather the never-ending spiral of uncertainty we’re entangled in, but that would be a lie. Instead of mastering the art of emotional fortitude, all I’ve gotten from this year’s nervous handwringing are 35 perfect loaves of sourdough bread. And so, with just a few days until the election, I am more anxious than ever, and I’m willing to guess that you are, too.
Millions of Americans are experiencing some form of anticipatory anxiety around the election, which has only continued to mount as this hell-year draws closer and closer to November 3. At which point said anxiety will likely (surprise) keep growing. That’s because this year we have the difficult job of waiting for the high volume of mail-in ballots to be counted, a process that could take several days to weeks, leaving our nerve-wracked minds with plenty of time to go into overdrive and potentially implode.
Sign up for The Bold Italic newsletter to get the best of the Bay Area in your inbox every week.
By now, everyone including the Thai restaurant you follow on Instagram has urged you to make a voting plan. But has anyone asked you about your self-care plan? Taking care of yourself can go a long way. In this midst of all this stress and uncertainty, it’s comforting to do a little self-pampering and have control over how we ease all the scaries.
So do your future self a favor and create a self-care plan to help you stay grounded and sane during election week. Here’s a guide to get you started, including some of my favorite ways to de-stress in the Bay Area.
Join The Bold Italic x Rogue Habits for our Election Day Self-Care Takeover
On Tuesday, we at TBI are teaming up with Rogue Habits — a platform dedicated to providing resources, inspiration, and empowerment to creatives — to offer a lineup of Instagram Lives to help you set aside time for self-care on Election Day. These include meditation, mindful drawing, muscle relaxation, and more. Take a look at the full lineup:
Establish phone-free hours
There’s no other time in the year that we’re more prone to being glued to our screens than during the election. The urge to know who’s winning will feel all-consuming. Unfortunately, our devices are fully equipped to meet this nagging urge, supplying us with enough content to get lost in a news spiral until we can no longer keep our eyes open. Not a good look for your mental health. Block off an hour — or dare I say, two — where you will be physically separated from your phone and its spellbinding powers. Fill your phone-free time with something that brings you back to your body, like taking a thousand deep breaths or stepping into a bath with your favorite bath bomb, salts, or oils.
Make dates with nature
Since we’ve been navigating this pandemic for over seven months now, I trust that you have your go-to spots for getting a dose of nature in your system. For me, trekking beneath the giant trees in Redwoods Regional Park is like hitting the reset button on my cortisol levels. Bay Area dwellers are fortunate enough to have easy access to a diverse range of natural spaces. Whether you make a date with the Presidio or Ocean Beach or the Berkeley Rose Garden, be sure to practice some mindfulness when you get there. Notice what the air smells like and how the leaves have changed colors; pay attention to the different sounds. Nature has a way of dulling the political noise. Relish in those moments — your nerves will thank you later.
Place mantras around the house
I’m not one of those people who normally sticks uplifting quotes and pithy phrases on Post-it notes around the house, but I fully plan on becoming one the week of the election, and you should too. During times of uncertainty, it’s easy to start spinning your own deeply unreliable narrative of how events are going to unfold. Before you know it, in the time it took you to toast a single slice of bread, you’ve convinced yourself that that thing you dreamt up is about to become actual reality. The mind is terrifyingly powerful.
To help keep you from getting swept up in all the “what ifs,” write down some comforting quotes and mantras that ground you by connecting you to the present moment and allow you to cultivate a sense of peace with the unknown. Some of my favorites are: “I will release what I cannot change,” and “Worrying is a waste of my energy.” Once you’ve chosen your encouraging notes-to-self, plant them in places that you’ll see them. Not only will these help soothe bouts of distress, but they’ll also keep you tethered to what’s happening in the now, which is all we really have anyway.
Connect with loved ones
In a year that’s been hallmarked by isolation and deep division, connecting with loved ones has never felt more important. When making your self-care plan, be sure to include time with the people who bring you joy. Decide whether or not you want to establish that time as a politics-free zone. You might find it helpful to have a reprieve from election talk when hanging out with friends. Maybe you plan a socially distanced picnic at Dolores Park and act like the election isn’t happening at all. Or you might find that talking with others about the election actually makes you feel better and gets you out of your own head. Whatever the case, be intentional about fostering an environment with your loved ones that allows for real connection. Weathering election week can feel like being battered around in a lonely storm, so find people to hold onto.
Plan to eat your favorite meals
Making decisions during a pandemic is taxing work. Something as simple as choosing to go out to dinner or grab a drink with friends now comes with its own web of safety protocols to navigate. All of which require us to make a hundred tiny decisions before we even sit down to eat. Decision fatigue coupled with election anxiety is a recipe for a meltdown. Save yourself the future headache by planning out your election week meals and incorporating some of your favorite foods for added comfort.
You might treat yourself to a banana cream tart from Tartine one afternoon. Or perhaps omakase from Sara Sushi Bar in Noe Valley. For me, there are few things I find more comforting than a warm bowl of stuffed pasta doused in brown butter and sage from Belotti Ristorante in Oakland. I’m not saying you should stack your week with the most indulgent meals you can find, but I’m also not saying you shouldn’t. The point is to plan meals for election week that are going to make you feel good and that will look different for everyone.
Schedule self-care on your calendar
Make your plan official by scheduling your activities into your calendar. For example, if you have Google Calendar synced to your phone, then you can get a notification that in 10 minutes you’re scheduled to take a candlelit bath, or that it’s time to pour a glass of wine and watch the sunset. Make the decision now to treat these calendar events like the biggest meetings of your life. I know that may sound extreme, but taking care of your emotional well-being is serious business and should be treated as such.
