Reflecting on community & self-care post-election. MS teaches patience. Adjusting media habits, finding strength in family history, music, & trusted connections.
Summary
Health Hats muses about physical, mental, and spiritual health, community connections, and self-care during these post-election times. He has changed his media consumption habits and is learning from his experiences with multiple sclerosis. He expresses anxiety and a dark curiosity about the future, drawing strength from family history, marriage, and music, and emphasizes the importance of staying connected with trusted communities and being open to help when needed.
Click here to view the printable newsletter with images. More readable than a transcript, which can also be found below.
Please comment and ask questions:
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Production Team
- Kayla Nelson: Web and Social Media Coach, Dissemination, Help Desk
- Leon van Leeuwen: article-grade transcript editing
- Oscar van Leeuwen: video editing
- Julia Higgins: Digital marketing therapy
- Steve Heatherington: Help Desk and podcast production counseling
- Joey van Leeuwen, Drummer, Composer, and Arranger, provided the music for the intro, outro, proem, and reflection, including Moe’s Blues for Proem and Reflection and Bill Evan’s Time Remembered for on-mic clips.
Podcast episodes on YouTube from Podcast
Inspired by and Grateful to
Steve and Sue Heatherington, Heidi Frei, Matt Neil, Tania Marien, Ann Boland, Leon van Leeuwen
Links and references
Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American on Substack
Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Substack
Virginia Heffernan’s Magic+Loss on Substack
Katelyn Jetelina’s Your Local Epidemiologist on Substack
Lyz’s Men Yell at Me on Substack
Sue Heatherington’s fresh sight from the quiet edge.
Episode
Let’s review the body from head to toe: tedious brain loop, dry, sticky mouth, queasy stomach, tight muscles, loose bowels, and bone fatigue. Fear, anxiety, despair, and hopelessness, with a niggling curiosity.
I’m networking and reaching out to loved ones in person and virtually. Searching for facts, trust, and people to follow. I’ve stopped almost all pundits in print, audio, and video. My feeds are changing with more music, comedy, animals, and sports. And algebra—why algebra?
I’m sticking with following Heather Cox Richardson, Jon Stewart, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Virginia Heffernan, the Bulwark, Your Local Epidemiologist, Men Yell at Me, the Guardian, and Sue Heatherington’s fresh sight from the quiet edge.
I’ve added AOC, Jeff Jackson, and Isaac Saul’s Tangle.
More music: My Latin Band, Lechuga Fresca, is on hiatus, so I joined a Dixieland Band.
I’m still losing weight—30 pounds so far. I just noticed less abdominal flab to pinch when taking my shots. I can do 20 push-ups and 16 squats and can get myself up off the floor. I walk about 3,500 steps a day. I’m getting a new travel wheelchair.
I have several priorities: don’t fall, progress with MS as slowly as possible, maintain much of my pathological optimism, continue to play my horn, and contribute to inclusive, nurturing communities. The hardest priority may be maintaining optimism.
MS has forced me to exercise my patience muscles. What choice do I have? I can’t run to the bus. If I miss it, I miss it. What muscles will we strengthen over the next four years? I’m a terrible crystal ball gazer, but I know the self-care muscles will need attention. At this moment, I don’t feel the urge to do much of anything except take care of myself and those with whom I’m fortunate enough to share an existence. When a plan comes to me, I’ll share it. If someone else comes up with a plan, I’ll check out the someone and the plan with others I trust. If it makes sense and feels possible for me, I’ll act and maybe even join.
I’m already connected to many extraordinary, trusted communities nationally, internationally, and locally, and I’ll stay connected. However, my priorities, my communities, and the tint of my lenses will likely change.
My comfort will be challenged. I’m very nervous about that. I am so privileged. These muscles will need a strengthening program.
I’m grateful that during our 50 years together, my wife and I built a house, had a kid at home, cared for dying family, home-schooled, and changed locations and careers several times. Our sons are fine dads, married to strong partners, and live nearby.
We could do the unthinkable. We still can. Those muscles are strong. My Opa survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and my mother and her parents survived hiding for almost five years. People saved them. I’m grateful for that, too.
So, let’s see what happens. Our paths will unfold. You know where to find me. Comment. Keep in touch. Take care of you and yours. Open yourself to help when you need it. Help can come out of the woodwork.
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Artificial Intelligence in Podcast Production
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Disclaimer
The views and opinions presented in this podcast and publication are solely my responsibility and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®), its Board of Governors, or Methodology Committee. Danny van Leeuwen (Health Hats)
