Besides what you were going to do anyway.

SUMMARY

I write summaries for readers who have to marshal their effort and attention.

• We all deserve better

• You can’t move things with your mind

• You can, however, comment on a workplace heat rule

• Or perhaps on rules to make giant trucks less deadly

• You could write to your senators about an arms embargo if you haven’t yet

• Maybe look up a CERT or first aid training near you—when’s the next one?

• Give some situational care to a fellow being in the living world

• And follow some general steps to care for yourself and others at the same time

I hope the ghost of Ursula K. Le Guin won’t haunt me for saying this, but the people and lives of the world all deserve better than whatever this US election is going to bring us. That’s one thing. The other thing is to remember that you can’t move things with your mind. Gluing your nose to a screen isn’t going to change what the screen says or what it will say next.

Whatever you’re doing in the next few days, I hope you will take some of the available opportunities to make more things better for more people. Here are some ways to do that in addition to voting:

Can you comment on OSHA’s new workplace heat rule? You don’t need to be an expert, although if you’ve done work with high heat risk, or studied/treated heat illness, your expertise is welcome. You can also just say that the heat rule will be lifesaving (it will) and that you support it.

There’s another open comment period on lowering truck hoods and changing their materials to make collisions less likely and less deadly. Those high trucks make it harder for drivers to see children, people using wheelchairs or walkers, and animals. Again, expertise is welcome but not required. 

You may already have done this, but if not, signing and sending this letter to encourage your senators to block more (more???) arms to Israel is worth a few minutes of time. 

If the idea of taking on a new task or learning effort like first aid or a CERT (Community Emergency Response Training) seems overwhelming, break it down into steps by just clicking one of those links and making a note of when and where the next ones are near you. 

An act of concrete care and relationality to another living being can go a long way toward reminding you that you, too, are part of the living world and belong in it. What this care needs to be is situational; where I live, we’re in drought, so I’ll probably water a tree. 

Here are some more general steps (that you can do in any order) for climate (or any massive crisis, including one of conscious) anxiety (or any emotion/reaction that feels unbearable). You can do them yourself, but they work better with others.

PRACTICE

YOURSELF → WITH PEOPLE

Recognize your state → “Hey, how’s it going?”

Tell the truth → Hear the truth

Steady your nerves → Be present with others

Situate yourself within the web of life

Make a plan → Invite people into the plan

Do less → Slow down and create redundancy

Longtime readers will know that the title I had originally planned for my book was Next Morning on Earth. I don’t know if I’ve ever said where that comes from: it’s a combination of my public love for a cool morning on earth and a quote from a chapter book I had as a kid: “History teaches: there’s always a next morning.” The book was called The Kid Who Ran for Principal, and looking back, I can see how in certain ways it was The West Wing of kids’ books, with a lot more faith in representative democracy than I have today. But the lesson of the next morning is one I have taken with me. 

After any day that doesn’t kill us, there will be another day to be alive in. It makes sense to me to try to shape that day. It makes sense to care for myself and those near to me so we can more easily meet it together. Whatever the day, whatever the change, this is what I wish for all of us.