Taking Care Of The Basics

After something traumatic happens, when we are walking around in a daze, it is easy to neglect the basics. Friends, I am begging you, take care of yourself. Drink water. Eat Vegetables. Sweat. Breathe. We need this. We need to support each other in this. We can’t take care of anything if we don’t take care of ourselves. We need to be at our best. Our creativity needs us to be at our best. I also think we need to consider how the barriers to basic self care are damaging our democracy. 

We are what we eat- yes? Malnutrition causes neurological disorders. I think that we really need to acknowledge the role malnutrition and mental illness have in the struggle for an enlightened culture. Michelle Obama made this connection in her efforts to end childhood obesity. You can eat too much food and still be malnourished. So much of our country does not have access to healthy food, and then even if they do, there are social norms and patterned behaviors that prevent people from taking care of themselves. In addition, access to mental health care is fraught with obstacles. Hillary’s focus on children mattered, because this problem is a generational cycle that is most effectively broken EARLY. This will never be on the Republican agenda, but it needs to be on ours. We will not have government support, but we still need to make progress on this front. 

Our democracy can only be as healthy as the people it serves.