Avoid the "Conflict Entrepreneurs"

What to read/listen to this instead of the polls

Howdy,

I hope this finds you all well. I know there is a lot of anxiety over the election, but no matter what happens, there’s no better time to start healing our divides. I got an email from Michael Moore this weekend that suggested I text every single person in my contact list; instead, I completely disconnected and went hunting, where no signal, no asking for money, no fearmongering could find me.

But alas, it’s Monday before election day.

News Flash: No matter what happens, our government cannot heal our divides. It will only happen one person, family, and community at a time.

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I am excited to share my recent podcast discussion with Dr. Timothy Hayes On Living A Healthy Life In Toxic Times. I met Dr. Hayes after writing about conspiracy theories, and he reached out after reading about my struggles processing the recent death of my brother and father and what unconditional love means.

It’s not entirely void of anxiety, but our discussion focuses on shining some light on ways to deal with the cultural pressures that, despite our riches, have devastated too many Americans with a collapse of our inner lives due to conspiracy, addiction, depression, and anxiety that is rampant across all income levels.

In times of rapid change, bold leadership is about retaining our humanity and leading with purpose.

Here are other recommendations for calming your mind and preparing for what happens next …

Amanda Ripley, journalist and author of High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, post on Substack: How to resist temptation this week: Three things we can do instead of collapsing into blame and worry … which links to her constructive Opinion in the Wash Post: The next eight days could be torture. Or you could try this. She also recommends this Good Conflict Starter Toolkit.

Pádraig Ó Tuama challenges us to think about collaboration, care, and community with the Governance of Animals.

Krista Tippet interviews Adrienne Maree Brown for her On Being podcast, discussing On Radical Imagination and Moving Towards Life. Brown, in Tippet’s view is a “live human signposts” — human beings who embody ways of seeing and becoming and who point the way forward to the world we want to inhabit.”

Let’s all be signposts as we move forward.

Distract yourself. Get out of your head and into a state of flow, whether that means exercising, gardening, meditating, praying, or painting. “A lot of the battle is about making the time pass without being super miserable.” - Amanda Ripley.

Teton Valley Peeps: On election night, my family and I will be distracted by the news and soaking up community connections at Highpoint Cider for Trivia night at 7 p.m. Join us!