The ballot drop boxes didn’t erupt in flames. Voters weren’t assaulted as they headed to the polls. The fluffy white dog that jumped into traffic from the window of his mama’s truck on El Toro Road brought cars to a halt (orchestrated by a kind and fearless Amazon Prime driver); the man sporting the “I voted” sticker on his chest opened the door to his sedan; and the fluffy white dog climbed in.
By most conventional measures, Election Day went smoothly in Orange County and beyond, but that didn’t do a whole lot to ease worried minds. If there’s trouble, people figured, it’ll come over the next few days, as election results become clearer and about half the voters in America erupt in white-hot fury.
“Nervous. Anxious. Scared,” said Bobbie Lee Thorne, a chiropractor whose patients have been complaining of worsening neck and back issues. “More stress. More pain because of it. Everybody is freaked.”
Despite Tuesday’s warmth and sunshine, the unrest of Jan. 6, 2021, hung like a cold, dark cloud over the day. Can anyone lose with grace anymore? Would they?
“It’s not going to be peaceful, no matter who wins,” predicted Lanny Erickson in Mission Viejo, who said he’s optimistic nonetheless. “I have given it over to God.”
Gulp. We turn for wisdom to Marwa Azab, who holds a doctorate in neuroscience from UC Irvine, a master’s in counseling psychology from Adler University, and is a lecturer at Cal State Long Beach.
Election anxiety is one thing, but “the post-election anxiety — that’s going to be a bigger issue,” she said. “There’s still some sort of mistrust of government out there — pandemic remnants that carry through to the election.”
Ah yes. The hangover from masks, school closures, vaccines, mail ballots, voting systems. Luckily, Azab’s “8 Strategies for Managing Election Anxiety” was published in Psychology Today and can help us deal.
She recommends slowing down and reflecting on the sources of information (some are designed to evoke overwhelming worry); increasing our sense of control by reminding ourselves that our influence goes beyond the ballot box (we can take meaningful action in our communities no matter who wins); literally budgeting our worry time (set aside a half-hour, write those worries on a sticky note and then discard them); and being aware of external pressures (“It’s important to process these feelings rather than letting them overwhelm you. This feeling is an indication that you are a conscientious citizen”).
The flip side of all this crushing stress is that we, the American people, care, Azab said. “We can volunteer, have our influence in different ways — and in four years, there will be another election.”
Also, stay away from caffeine. Pet a cat. And laugh!
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel said that awaiting these election results feels a lot like the country is waiting to get biopsy results. Stephen Colbert noted that, “After a two-year campaign, we have finally made it through all 20 years.” Seth Meyers stressed that no one can control what happens on Election Day — “We can only control how drunk we are when it happens.”
Why did the ballot go to therapy? It had too many issues. How do you know if a candidate is lying? Their lips are moving. How many congressmen does it take to fix a flat tire? We’ll never know — they’re all afraid of inflation.
A portrait of a saintly Mr. Rogers greeted visitors at The First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa, which invited everyone craving calm to its all-day Vigil for Peace and Centering. Stations invited folks to stop and literally smell the roses — or, rather, the scent of lemon, ginger, geranium, patchouli and other oils (which could be dabbed onto cotton balls and taken along for comfort, if needed, later in the day). Another station invited folks to ground themselves with taste, featuring a bowl of potato chips, piles of Hershey’s Kisses and lines of Ghirardelli squares of intense dark, almond and sea salt caramel chocolates (we only took one).
It was all the brainchild of Thorne, the stressed-out chiropractor. Thorne also recommends therapy, meditation, prayer and exercise.
Church administrator Josephine Jimenez clings tight to her father’s wisdom: You just have to keep going. Stick around and do the work.
The Rev. Dr. Brian Tipton said he was more calm than he thought he’d be. “What I’ve been telling folks is that, no matter what happens, we are still called to build something together, in healing and compassion, in hope and justice. No matter who wins, it’s not going to get rid of society’s ills. We have to work together to make the world a better place.”
There is reason to hope. In North Tustin, where Steve Lawrence’s Trump booth and Sandra Robbie’s Harris booth have been peacefully coexisting on the same corner for months, Robbie brought candy for all (Hershey’s Kisses, peanut and plain M&Ms, and Milky Way bars).
And when the Amazon Prime driver stopped his truck in lanes on El Toro Road and walked in front of moving cars to save that little white dog, and when that man fresh from the polling place coaxed it into his car, and when folks from the Laguna Hills Animal Hospital rushed outside to make sure she was OK, and when her mom quickly pulled up and told us the dog’s name was Ruby — well, it just felt like we could all make this work if we really want to.
