week 27

WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH, THE FEAR OF FAILURE CAN BE PARALYZING

I’ve been thinking a lot about the last presidential debate, that has haunted so many. It strikes me that much of the political upheaval we are facing and have faced, might stem from our fears and our collective fear of failure. Would Trump have conceded the 2020 election without his fear of failure? Would the democrats be more united right now about who our candidate should be without the terrifying fear of failure in the upcoming election?

We keep being told that we need to do more, more, more, because democracy is at stake. I agree we need to do more, and the fear that we are not doing enough and that we might fail to win the election as a result is paralyzing. It feels like whatever I can do as one small person in a gigantic machine of a precarious system is not and will not be enough. I keep being reminded of this fact, whenever messages come out that say, word for word, “whatever you’re doing, it’s not enough.” The overwhelm is enough to make me not do anything, and want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head until the election is over (and quite possibly, for the next four years after).

I think more helpful messaging than “whatever you’re doing, it’s not enough” would be something like “whatever you can do is hugely helpful, and make sure you are also taking care of yourself.”

I may fail to make a difference, but even if I do, here is what I think I can reasonably do and feel decent about trying:

I will write at least 200 postcards to voters in swing states.

I will participate in at least two rounds of text banking.

I will go to at least one community meeting and find out what they need volunteers to do.