Panic Responsibly
We started 2024 with a bit of trepidation, knowing it's a significant election year and that folks are still worn down by the pandemic and much more. Then a turbulent summer arrived. We find ourselves with one presidential candidate convicted of 34 felonies while the other reckons with age and calls to step aside. Record-breaking heat is suffocating almost every part of the country and we've witnessed the earliest-forming Category Five hurricane on record. Tight elections in England and France revealed wavering support for the conservative parties, and then on July 13th, an assassination attempt was made on the former president.
Yikes. The upheaval is rocking and rolling.
Meredith acknowledged the chaos by donning a Panic Responsibly t-shirt in her neighborhood’s 75th Annual July Fourth Parade and Heather has one on order. With plans to wear them regularly, we got to thinking about what it means to “panic responsibly.” Here are our first thoughts and we welcome yours.
Focus on the Water, Not the Rocks
This is common advice from whitewater rafting guides. If you're too focused on the rocks, the raft will follow your attention and you’ll find yourself wrapped around a rock, fighting the current. As we think about what might emerge next, we're trying to keep our eyes on the big picture of justice, health, safety, opportunity, and freedom for all. We are committed to a fair and free democracy and the peaceful transition of power. Much of what happens in electoral campaigns are rocks, big and small. With each new twist, we're striving to focus our attention on the bigger picture, asking what is relevant and irrelevant.
Ask, What If?
While we have an eye on the big picture, we're also working with clients to explore different scenarios. What might happen if x occurs as opposed to y? What are the possible implications? Can we prepare ourselves now? Is there anything we can do today to mitigate the worst harms? Asking, what if?, shapes strategic choices, it's also a way to temper our emotional state by feeling out what could be, as well as what is. There are many helpful scenario planning resources out there. We saw a good one recently that guides nonprofits as they consider the impacts of a Trump victory on their mission and work.
Listen with Openness
It's easy to get lost in our own personal cyclone of information and interpretation, especially through showers of disinformation. The grounding assumption is that we are right and others of a different political persuasion are wrong. Yet, do any of us know enough in this tumultuous time to be right about anything beyond our own experience? The paths to solve climate change, immigration, affordable housing, Palestine and Israel, you name it, are not clear. None of us know how to fix these massive problems and certainly not in ways that don’t require all of us to adapt our long-held beliefs and values. The responsible part of "panic responsibly" means listening to those with different interpretations and ideas - and listening with such openness that each of us learn and are even changed.
We were glad to see this wide list of news sources to follow during the election cycle from Amy Mayer, a communications consultant in our networks. Who are you following?
Tend to Your Heart
There will be moments of joy this summer and moments of sorrow, moments of ease and moments of deep anxiety. Let’s just acknowledge that it will be rough.
Kate DeCamillio, the author of many beloved children’s books, talks about literature teaching us to bear the truth of life with hearts that are capacious enough to simultaneously feel joy and sorrow. Our hearts don’t become more capacious checking email or scrolling social media. Our hearts grow when we connect with the ones we love, when we are awed by nature. So this summer, tend to your capacious heart. Tell jokes around the dinner table. Curl up in a hammock with your favorite children’s book. Walk in the woods with a friend. Stretch your muscles and release stuck emotions. Notice the ants working together to carry large loads across your bed of tomatoes. Step outside into the dark of night and look up at the stars. They’ve been shining brightly for a long, long time.
With capacious hearts and eyes focused on the big picture, we can panic responsibly and move through this summer of chaos, together.
- Meredith, Heather, & Katie