Frustrated, Overwhelmed, and Don't Know What to Do? Here's What to Do...

Photo by Kitera Dent on Unsplash

Doing the work I do, people often comment on my pieces, send me emails, or come up to me after talks saying, “I don’t need to know how bad it is, John. I know how bad it is, I need to know what to do—tell me what to do!”

I usually respond by saying, “Here’s what to do: something.”

It sounds sarcastic, flippant, perhaps a bit condescending, but I mean it.

Lately, I think the velocity and scope of the horrible news has made many of us forget what we know, distracting us and leaving us paralyzed with fear and inaction (which by the way, is precisely the goal of those skilled sociopaths generating the horrible news).

But here’s the thing about activism and social justice work: generally speaking, they don’t change depending on the political climate, the balance of power in Congress, the occupant of the White House, or the category of the current shit storm (which is off the charts).

Positive cultural change today (as it has always been) is about leveraging your life where you are: by doing small, possible, measurable daily acts of decency, of protest, of advocacy, of collaboration.

The reason I or anyone else can’t tell you exactly what to do, (outside of Congressional phone numbers to call or national events to plug into) is that no one else has the vantage point of the world that you have.

No one is situated in the precise community where you live, with the exact circle of influence you have, with the local connections you’ve made, with the specific knowledge of the way the massive national Trump sewage pipeline flows into your little community—but you do.

I always share with people I meet in my travels, that we always, always have two things in our possession no matter the geography or the conditions: proximity to need and agency to alleviate it. As you read or hear these words, you have them.

For example, within a mile of you (or perhaps within a few keystrokes) you likely know of all sorts of nonprofits, political groups, faith communities, community centers, interfaith organizations, who long before November 5th, have been in the business of supporting vulnerable communities, of feeding hungry neighbors, of engaging the political system locally, of being allies for the marginalized. Don’t you?

Well, there’s a good chance those entities are now, without exception—more overworked, underfunded, under duress, and struggling more than ever to meet the need this presidency has created.

So, the something you need to do right now, might very well be about simply calling or emailing or stopping by and asking “How can I help?” I can promise you, they will give you a tangible, doable task that will allow you to participate in their efforts. You’ll be moving from the cloudiness of theory and the stress of wondering, and into the clarity of doing and you’ll also be doing alongside other like-hearted human beings. You’ll receive new information, get better questions, and probably be led right into the next something that needs doing.

There’s also a high likelihood that in your circle of friends, your neighborhood, your online network, you know compassionate, courageous, talented, pissed-off people who are out in the community as we speak: organizing protests, attending school board meetings, writing postcards, calling lawmakers, making meals, driving people to medical appointments. Or, if they aren’t already, they’d probably jump at the chance to collaborate on some good trouble with a willing coconspirator. There’s no better time to reach out with a text or an email saying, “I know we’re both feeling the same about all of this. Do you want to get together for coffee and scheme about partnering against this fascist bullshit?” I bet you’ll get more yes’s than no’s.

Friends, I know it’s grim and terrifying and batshit crazy out there in ways we’ve never experienced, but that actually good news as far as the something you can do.

The fact that no one and nothing is unscathed by the brutal scorched-earth approach of this administration is a kind of a blessing. It means that wherever you are, wherever you turn, whatever population you see, there is a need that has never been as profound as it is right now—and the best news of all is that you are there, in a way that no one else is, and certainly in a way that I’m not.

So, here’s the deal: I’m only a single human being doing what he feels he is capable of doing in the small and close of his life, which for me involves getting up every day, sitting in front of a computer and sharing my heart, offering encouragement, voicing frustration, and hopefully giving strangers a hug around the neck or a kick in the behind, depending on the day. (Hopefully, these particular words bring both.)

This is not some cheap, hollow, rah-rah, everything is awesome speech, it’s the actual, truest-thing-ever, rubber-meet road sober-but-liberating reality that you already have what you require: proximity and agency.

Yes, it’s really easy to be swallowed up by the terror or frozen in the face it all, but you shouldn’t be. The big and distant threats may be impossible to overcome but the small and close dangers are not only clear to see—but manageable to begin to chip away at right now, especially in physical or virtual community with others.

So, maybe today, turn off the news and take a good long look around.

Inventory the streets you drive through, the community you call home, the people you know, the groups who are already on the ground, and the burdens that you carry.

Sit with the powerful agency that you have through your time, talents, resources, relationships, and specific prompts—and then, grab your laptop, pick up your phone, or get in your car and do the one thing that all beautiful revolutions were built on: something.

If tens of millions of people get up every day and do a small something, that’s a pretty damn powerful something. Share in the comments, ways you’re doing something where you are to help inspire others.