In Your Post-Election Feelings

Processing Grief After the 2024 Election Season

Where Mindfulness Meets Climate Action - Save Our Happy Place is a resource to help align your mindset, intentions, and actions to save the planet from climate change. Learn how to incorporate small, digestible acts while garnering accumulative impact, championing optimism, and maintaining “personal sustainability”, written by Lindsay Nunez.

Two days after the election results were confirmed, I find myself still oscillating through the phases of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, and acceptance. These phases can be hard and exhausting. The temptations to dissociate or dive into the social media rabbit hole are both continuous battles. While many sources may tell you to keep fighting, roll up your sleeves, and think positive, I know we are all exhausted by this battle. So I believe making a conscious effort to pay witness to our emotional experiences is the first, most vital step forward.

Reflecting back to Monday, I didn't want this election season to end. I basked in a glow of hope, optimism, and possibility. I reveled in the bubble of shared ideals, where our potential seemed boundless, and the future looked bright. This election felt existential. To me, there was only one path forward. Living in New York City—a liberal sanctuary where political conversations flow easily and with shared understanding—I couldn't fully grasp perspectives outside my own or this community's. Just this morning, at my yearly check-up, my new doctor, unprompted, sighed, "Can you believe this country?" It often feels like we're living in a time of merging, opposing realities. My bubble shielded me from genuinely seeing half of America's vision for the future. I wasn't prepared for this outcome.

For those who have tirelessly invested energy, time, resources, and heart in building a healthier, more just country and planet, these past few days have been ones of great grief. I invite you to join me in sitting with this discomfort—not just for today but through the weekend, even into the holidays. Winter is a season for rest and reflection. We can use it also to hold vigil and mourn.

Only then, with clear eyes and open hearts, can we find new ways to move forward. We can hold those in power accountable, envision new paths, and keep our hope alive—but only if we fully honor and process the grief we feel now. There is still potential, but to find it, we must feel through the anger and disappointment that cloud our vision.

Below, you'll find two self-care practices to support you this weekend. This toolkit is not just for American readers; America's choices affect everyone. For those outside the electorate feeling the shockwaves of this election from afar, this toolkit is also for you.

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Weekend Toolkit

Feel Your Feelings

I invite you to join me in feeling through election grief thoroughly and deeply. Don’t rush into action, overanalyze results, or strategize on what went wrong. Just name your feelings, feel them, and hold space for them.

Suppressing emotions can lead to numbness and apathy; nothing beautiful or impactful has ever come from apathy. Preserving our emotional well-being will keep us strong for the challenges ahead.

Below, you’ll find the Climate Feelings Color Wheel, created by Anya Kamenetz in collaboration with the Climate Mental Health Network and based on Panu Pihkala's research. Use it as a tool to better identify and articulate your feelings, specifically around the climate crisis.

For me, feelings of betrayal, grief, frustration, and despair resonate strongly. I worry deeply about the potential setbacks in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, knowing that this president-elect will hold office until 2029. But the thing about wheels is that they do turn. Perhaps in the coming months, there will be space again for inspiration and hope.

Connect to Your Heart Space

I love this meditation because it addresses political anxiety specifically. Take time to connect to your heart space, offering empathy for yourself and, perhaps, even for your fellow Americans. Compassion for yourself and others can anchor you through this uncertain time.

Wishing you all a sense of peace,

Lindsay