Take A Deep Breath, Please.

Can we just all take a collective breath?

That’s right, fill the diaphragm slowly, breathing in through the nose; and then slowly – slowly – exhaling through the mouth. Isn’t that better?

The frenetic “Trump said this…” and “Trump did that…” and, “OMG, did you hear…” found on FB and even in the mainstream media, is a riot of panic. It is doing nothing but inflating his ego while enervating the courage and hope embodied all over the world last Saturday.

What did you expect, anyway?

Of course he was going to do the things he said he would, or at least make a gesture toward them. Like anyone else catapulted into office by the promises he or she makes, he is going to attempt to deliver them. Count on it, but do not let each and every gesture shake the world around you.

We are now resistance.

Expect repression and efforts to oppress and obliterate any and all parts of the resistance. That is what coercive power does. The fact is, under Obama we continued to repress and obliterate oppressed people all over the world. Now we’ll get an even more acrid taste of it at home. It will be most shocking to those of us white, male, middle class folks who rail about not doing it to others even as we continue to reap the benefits of it.

People with power do not give it away, ever.

It must be taken. Fear does not take power. Panic does not take power. Hard, incremental, imaginative, ingenious, one-step-at-a-time work and organizing take power. We have a long season ahead, and we need collective sobriety and a non-reactive spirit in order to persevere and be successful.

I recommend tuning out of as much noise as possible. Be highly selective about what you read and listen to, and pass over or delete everything else. Be strategic. Sit down and think about what you need to know and what you can allow to pass through you on the wind of cultural poo. Then make whatever adjustments to your daily diet of media, social or not, that your strategy requires.

Do not get distracted.

Be detached from fear and anger when possible, they are corrosive to interior resolve and strength. Meditate. Pray. Call upon a power greater than yourself to strengthen you and empower us. We need it.

And now, the peace of God be with you.