I know this sense of emotional turmoil all too well. It happens every time when he does something unexpected. Now it’s Trump. Then it were men I had relationships with – men who were psychologically unhealthy and abusive. I don’t know if that fits Trump but his public behavior seems just as erratic and unpredictable. At bottom the reason for this behavior is to get attention. The more strange, out-of-pattern, the more people notice, the more it throws them off balance, and keeps their attention on him. In those relationships, I ended up losing myself. What mattered to me got lost in the constant attempt to deal with yet another painful twist or another bombshell that came out of nowhere. This is not a healthy way to live! And it seems to be happening again now as I constantly scramble to read up about the latest faux pas from Trump – from Twitter storms against actors who speak out to security risks of undiplomatic phone calls. Instead of focusing on Trump, I want to focus on what is important to me, not to retreat into my private life but to continue the work that I believe is crucially needed: Addressing the root causes while continuing to resist strategically.

In reaction to Trump’s behavior, I have gotten into what Van Jones warned about: Do-do-mode. I sign all the petitions, make all the calls, and I often can’t remember what I signed or what I called whom about. Plus, there are often several petitions about the same thing. I am aware of at least three websites that attempt to connect us with Electors. Only one of them, the Hamilton Electors, was actually started by electors – and they have called on us not to swamp their fellow electors with emails and letters. So, let’s focus! When everything is important, we are not looking at root causes. We’ll just end up burning out.

Lisa Bloom calls on us to use our skills. So, let me use mine! I have already found my writing voice again, now I want to add analysis and connecting some dots. My focus will be on attempting to figure out the root causes, so over the next few blog posts, I will share what I am learning and how I am connecting it.