Our latest set of diaries is live, and there’s a strong, shared theme emerging from the reflections of our diarists: the recent elections and the political climate that continues to shape their lives. Almost every entry touches on the stress, uncertainty, and structure of feelings many have experienced in the wake of the election. Here are some snippets that capture these sentiments:
- Diarist A01: “I put myself on a news fast the Wednesday before the election,” and, “We talked about the election, about staying in the moment, not getting lost in speculative fears about what comes next, keeping our eyes open and seeing what the world requires of us.”
- Diarist A02: “I debate putting on Morning Joe but don’t have much appetite for political talk post-election.” “I need to figure out how will I manage political news in Trump 2.0.”
- Diarist A05: “I save everything that I think is useful, that is unless it belongs to someone else and it’s deemed by me to be of no use.”
- Diarist A06: “Being in a nursing home daily allows me to see the care and attention these healthcare givers afford to their charges. It’s easy to assume anyone in a nursing home has a terrible life, but actually being in the facilities offers insight into a great deal of kindness and compassion that occurs daily.”
- Diarist A15: “One thing we have not been doing much lately is watching or following the news. We are distressed by the election and the government appointments.”
- Diarist A23: “Since Trump was elected, I have felt the need to find solace in the good places.”
- Diarist A34: “Today was my lucky day though. I showed up and my supervisor had already placed one of those material items on my worktable, so I knew they had finally shown up.”
- Diarist B35: “Not an untypical day but definitely a quieter one with less to document. Of course, all of this occurred within the cloud of nerve gas still hovering malevolently around our heads and hearts from the recent national political fiasco.”
- Diarist B37: “I get to work on my next-semester course, but listen to a short podcast on the election instead. Why????”
- Diarist C45: “Much of this week seems like a slog inside an emotional fog, being the week after the election and all.”
- Diarist F56: “I woke at 4:00am (not by choice) with the goal of recentering my thoughts and emotions to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder.”
- Diarist J86: “Post-election, the times – they’ve been a-strained. I can’t say that they’re a-changing, but they HAVE been strained……. and strange.”
- Diarist J89: “Family is important, so are friends. I have a friend whom I met when we were in graduate school almost forty years ago.”
Take a moment to explore the full set of diaries and see what others are saying in their diaries. You can access them all here: https://edlm.middletownstudies.org/diaries/.