The United States of Anxiety

This blog comes to you one day after the South Carolina primary and two days before Super Tuesday. As I write this to you, the results aren’t in yet. But what I do know is that regardless of what happens, there is profound and troubling anxiety running throughout America today. 

What are we to do with all our anxiety?

We are anxious about a whole rash of things. The latest is the potential pandemic of the coronavirus. There’s also the persistent pain and suffering from the opioid and meth crisis, kids who feel abandoned, and climate change–not to mention our toxic and divisive politics. 

For many of us, flight or fight often sets in when we feel anxious. We can’t see an alternative to the mess we’re in. We feel trapped, impotent, and deeply fearful. Just like you, I know these feelings well. 

But there is an alternative path that we can take to reduce our anxiety–that gives us more control over our lives and a greater sense of possibility and hope. The path is through our local communities. 

While there is a long list of concerns that make us anxious, the biggest issue we face is to restore our belief that we can come together and get things done.

This will happen only in our local communities–not Washington or state capitals.

We each have the power within us to overcome our anxiety and set a new trajectory for the country. 

It begins by focusing on what matters to us in our local communities. After all, it is there we can see and hear one another, afford each other dignity, and rebuild trust. 

It is in our local communities that we can be doers again–demonstrating that we have innate capabilities to shape our shared future. In our local communities we can rekindle and reclaim our can-do spirit, thus providing a genuine sense of progress. 

Let’s get to work in our local communities: Take one step at a time. Lean in. Make Progress. Reconnect with others. Start to believe again. 

This we can do. This we must do.