Dealing With Discouragement In A Trumpian World

Take A Break

In Donald Trump's world, there are only winners and losers. He's made that very clear his entire life. And while not everyone can be a winner in his world, we cannot afford to be losers in ours. Losers being the ones who give up and who are too discouraged to go on. 

"If we give up, he's won," said the boss of a non-profit environment venture I work for. This was said after a particular trying day, when we discovered that homeless people had camped out in our garden and trashed a great deal of it. It was worse than a natural disaster, because we couldn't quite conceive of the motives, but we set about replanting and taking stock of things, hoping that it wouldn't happen again.

Trying not to be discouraged, however, is very hard work. Harder work than replenishing a garden after its been trashed. 

Sometimes we need a break from this hard work. Not giving in, mind you, but just taking a break from the world at large and its Donald Trumps (yes, there are more than one - aaagh!). 

For the last six months, my break has been in a garden of my own, not on my own property, but in back of my building where I and my husband rent an apartment. Many mornings have been spent hauling river rocks from a ravine, afternoons have been used for plantings, watering, building and design. Last year, my efforts won an award from  San Francisco Beautiful, not solely because of the garden, but because its elements have been used in community-building where I live. 

Six years in creation (by myself) have led to a peaceful and even magical sanctuary for my neighbors. It has definitely helped to keep me from being too discouraged and giving in by giving me periodic rests. 

OK. Rest period is over. Now back to writing about this discouraging Trumpian world of ours.