Managing the Hum
Simple Actions for Resilience and resistance
For millions of Americans like me, anxiety and moments of despair are showing up every day. We feel helpless, overwhelmed, and pessimistic, which is part of the motivation for the daily barrage of thoughtless decisions focused on the destruction of America as we know it. The uncertainty of our country’s future is the most challenging aspect of such an intentionally cruel administration. It’s heartbreaking to see the complete lack of compassion, the hatred, the lies and insults used to defend their war against everyone but themselves. It’s infuriating to watch hard-earned women’s rights to privacy and control over their bodies simply disappear with the stroke of pen.
Anxiety shows up in many ways: sleep disturbances, irritability, excessive worrying, a racing mind, negative thoughts, and difficulty focusing. Physically, it can create muscle tension, increase heart palpitations, restlessness, and, for me, a constant hum throughout my body. Chronic anxiety is not healthy for our bodies: it can influence blood pressure regulation, suppress immune function, elevate stress levels, and increase inflammation.
My inbox has been filled with many suggestions to manage anxiety. They are all excellent ideas: exercise, yoga, meditation, breathwork, reduce media time, create art, spend time in nature, etc.
I want to add two more suggestions to help us manage the hum.
Each day, have a rest, a cup of chamomile tea, and read.
Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) tea has a long history of use for gastrointestinal complaints, nervousness, and anxiety. You may recall Peter Rabbit’s mom giving him chamomile tea after he stuffed himself silly in the farmer’s vegetable patch. Chamomile is identified as a nervine, an herb that calms our nervous system without overly sedating it.
Herbalist Matthew Wood declares in his book The Earthwise Herbal that chamomile’s calming effects are ideal for the following condition: "the person complains, whines, and demands....it is suited to babies of any age...petulant, self-centered, intolerant of pain or not having their way, inclined to pick quarrels."
Perhaps chamomile tea should be served daily at the White House…
A daily tea ritual can also offer therapeutic benefits: holding a warm cup of tea in your hands while relaxing and smelling the aroma of chamomile’s essential oils can do wonders to soothe an anxious mind. (Steep chamomile for 5-15 minutes; anything beyond that will bring out chamomile’s bitterness.)
Read anything but the news or social media.
I recently discovered the writings of Ryan Holiday, a former media strategist. In a recent blog post, he explains our addiction to 24/7 news, news updates, breaking news, and social media posts, especially when we are subject to a campaign of “shock and awe.”
“There is almost nothing on the news or social media that is not intentionally designed to agitate and outrage. It’s there to distract you. To consume your attention. That there are teams of designers, behavioral scientists, and engineers paid gobsmacking amounts of money to keep you watching and scrolling…posting and waiting for replies.
The same goes for every other publisher or platform. Television doesn’t want you to get up and take action, they want you to sit through the commercial break. A news outlet doesn’t want you to be so outraged by an article that you do something, no, they want you to stay and click another article at the bottom…or one of those scammy AI-written Taboola ads at the bottom (which again, I wrote about 11 years ago and still exist!).”
His advice:
“One of the most powerful things we can do as human beings in our hyperconnected, 24/7 digital media world is to turn our attention to things that last, to get out of the hellscape of noise and go to truth. It’s a transgressive act, I think, to pick up a book these days—better yet, an old book. If you wish to understand the present moment, you’ll gain more clarity by studying the past than you will from following the breathless news cycle. Put distance between you and the attention merchants. Read philosophy. Read history. Read biographies. Study psychology. Study the patterns of humanity.”
You can read the entire post on his website here.
Check out his reading list. I recommend starting with Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. Full of brilliance, wisdom, and compassion, I reread this book almost every year.
But compassion isn’t about solutions. It’s about giving all the love that you’ve got.
~ Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things
Find ways to practice compassion and kindness.
My second strategy is to look at your community for ways to help others. We need to embrace kindness and compassion to override the cruelty and division. Many people are struggling. Food is one area where we can all agree - we all need nutritious food to eat. We have watched grocery prices rise, resulting in an alarming 13% increase in food insecurity in one year (2024 USDA Food Security report). Over 47 million Americans struggle with having enough food. Every county in the USA has some level of food insecurity. Below is a list of opportunities to help people with food insecurity:
Meals on Wheels
Over ten million seniors live with food insecurity, and many of them live alone and isolated. The Meals on Wheels program utilizes volunteers to deliver hot meals to housebound seniors, providing an opportunity to check in on seniors as well. Check their website to see if they need volunteers in your area.
Feeding America: Food Banks, Food Pantries, & Meal Programs
Feeding America is a national non-profit that organizes temporary solutions, education opportunities, and advocacy to help feed millions of Americans. Check out their website to connect with volunteer opportunities in your area.
Plant a Row
Do you grow vegetables and fruits? Much of the food secured by food banks and pantries is shelf-stable, and though some fresh produce is donated, it is often days old. Plant a Row is a community-based program managed by volunteers who coordinate connections between home gardeners and food pantries. Check your community for an existing program. If one isn’t available, talk with Master Gardeners, church groups, garden clubs, and gardening friends about developing a program. Here’s a website for one program.
Ampleharvest
This non-profit connects home gardeners directly with local food banks and pantries. Check to see if a local food pantry is registered. Coordinate with other gardeners to provide a weekly drop-off. You can learn more here.
In next week’s newsletter, I will share a food-related community project I started three years ago.
Empathy And Compassion by Catherine Pulsifer
In the end, it's the love we give and receive,
That truly makes us human and helps us believe.
Believe in a world where understanding prevails,
Where empathy and compassion, like a story, never fails.
So let's foster unity, from the ashes, let's rise,
Embracing our differences, breaking down the lies.
For in this unity, in this sense of belonging,
We'll find the strength to heal, to keep loving.
In our unified journey, empathy will be our guide,
Together we'll stand, with compassion by our side.
So let's foster a sense of unity, in every way we can,
And create a world where empathy and compassion expand.
Aldo Leopold Conservation Week
The Aldo Leopold Foundation hosts a virtual speaker series each March, and this year’s lineup includes three outstanding authors. The series is free but you must register for them at this link:
Join us during Leopold Week: March 4–6, 2025!
March 4: Margaret Renkl, author of The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year
March 5: Camille Dungy, author of Soil: The Story Of a Black Mother's Garden
March 6: Amy Tan, international best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter's Daughter, and The Backyard Bird Chronicles
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Do you have suggestions for turning your attention to your community? Share them in the comments.
Thank you for all of the resources for managing the hum. These days it is tough sometimes to remember to manage the hum. Any distance and any things a person can do to bring some peace, calm, quiet and awareness of the immediate moment is to be done. Books, nature, tea, activities we love and that provide calm to revisit us are all good remedies. As Sue has brought to our attention, there are community involvement and ways to provide food to those in need. This is hugely important.
One of the Crooked Media podcasts, Offline, also featured a "challenge" to spend 30 minutes a day offline, reading from a book. Crooked Media is best known for its podcasts, "Pod Save America."