The election anxiety edition
Is anyone sleeping normally right now?
I spent the entirety of last week at work planning for every possible election scenario. There are so many possible ways this could go, and as journalists we have to be prepared for all of them — no matter how farfetched they may seem — because after 2016, it feels like anything could happen. I have spreadsheets upon spreadsheets. There are so many plans.
It’s wild to think we have no idea what the world will look like on Wednesday. The entire world could be different, maybe. Or it could be the same. Or it could be in a state of chaos and confusion.
Time has felt warped in 2020. We’re in month 8 of our pandemic lives, and yet the pandemic is getting worse, not better. The news this year has come at a relentless, nonstop pace, which makes every week feel 80 years long. (Think about it: a Supreme Court justice was confirmed just 6 days ago, and yet it feels a lifetime away already.)
On top of eight months of a pandemic (and many more to go), a racial reckoning, devastating wildfires, and the death of a beloved Supreme Court justice and confirmation of her replacement, is an election that could be one of the most consequential of our lives. It has us all incredibly anxious.
Everyone I know is obsessively reading the latest polls while simultaneously swearing they won’t trust polls again after 2016. No one is even daring to have hope or optimism about the potential outcomes; there is only fatigue, anxiety, weariness, nervous energy.
Is anyone sleeping normally right now? Everyone in my group texts is doomscrolling till late at night, sleeping fitfully, waking up with migraines. The good habits I developed earlier this year — working out every day, meditating, removing distractions from my phone to improve my focus — have fallen by the wayside as we get closer to November 3rd. (I’m planning on resuming these habits again after the election is over. At lest that’s what I tell myself.)
If you can’t put your phone down, can’t stop reading the news, can’t think about anything else but the impending election day looming ahead of us, you’re not alone. How can you blame anyone for doomscrolling when the stakes are so high?
The idea of trying to practice “self-care” right now feels laughable. A yoga video, a meditation session, a walk outside: all good habits to practice, but I think you can cut yourself some slack if you’re not feeling in the mood for those activities right now. The next few days will be some of the most anxious days we’ve had since March.
Cut yourself some slack, drink the wine, eat the junk food, do whatever it takes to get through the next few days.
2020 has been a hell of a year. I think we’ve earned it.
What I’m reading
The year of blur, New York Times.
Ask a fuck-up: why won’t my friend text me back, Jezebel.
Are you suffering from 2020 election burnout? You’re not alone, MSNBC.
What was fun?, Vox.
An oral history of election night 2016 at MSNBC, Vulture.
Election distractor, New York Times.
To hell with self-care right now, Slate.
The death and life of the greatest American city, Gen/Medium.
The birth of an extraordinary modern progressive movement, The Cut.
What I’m cooking
My motivation to cook has decreased proportionally to how close we are to election day, so here we are. This week I made this chicken and sweet potato curry, and ground chicken larb, and sheet pan roasted fish and bell peppers, and then I gave up and ordered takeout the rest of the week.
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