Things Getting Me Through the Rapid Fall of American Democracy
Marked "safe" from Hell
In the year 2025 so far – only 42 days in – a lot has happened. And pretty much all of it? Bad! Very, very bad.
In the interest of time and sanity, just to name a few (**TRIGGER WARNING:** regular daily news): Tr*mp has announced he will “buy” the Gaza Strip and make it into a “Riviera” destination, Los Angeles spent much of January engulfed in flames that devastated entire neighborhoods and many lives, and El*n M*sk not only insists on us perceiving him on a regular basis (traumatizing in and of itself), but is now also somehow holding a powerful position in government – not on Neptune (the planet he’s from1), but here on Earth, in the United States.
While I am by no means curating a “political” platform here with my lil’ pop culture blog, to be an American in today’s society means everything is political whether you like it or not. Our already-shaky systems and policies that we’ve come to know as (well, what was left of them anyway) standard American freedoms, protections and safety protocols are being swiftly destroyed - all tossed into one big capitalist shredder to spit out new money for the ones in power who already have plenty of it. In other words, it’s impossible to ignore the fall of Rome when you… well, live in Rome.
In an effort to acknowledge the doom without making you do yet another doom scroll, I want to move on to share the things that are getting me through this pre-apocalyptic time - from the very silly to the actually really helpful.
THINGS GETTING ME THROUGH THE RAPID FALL OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
Trader Joe's Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean Mini Sheet Cake. No explanation needed except to say… if you don’t know, you NEED to find out ASAP.
The “Iris” oracle deck by Mary Evans. I’ve always loved this deck, but I’ve recently added a one-card pull to my daily morning routine. The artwork of the cards is so vibrant, bold and fun, and the messages behind each card are beautifully insightful.
Deleting social media apps off my phone. With the exception of Letterboxd and Substack (of course), my phone is now social-media-free. Luckily, I already ditched Facebook during the pandemic (haven’t looked back once), so that left Instagram (owned by one of the world’s most well-known married incels, Mark Z*ckerberg), TikTok (which I deleted once it was “banned” and then couldn’t re-download anyway now that it’s off the app store), and X: The Official Government Website of Hell (formerly known as Twitter: A Decent Place We All Used to Sort of Enjoy). As for reasons to delete an app, the latter goes without saying… It appears the “great social media migration” is underway, as I’m one of many who are rethinking their relation to and usage of these apps run by corrupt, antisocial tech-boi billionaires.
Charli xcx screaming at the top of “Vroom Voom” live. Speaking of which… I joined TikTok during quarantine and I think this is when I started to really learn about and appreciate Charli xcx more. My algorithm was flooded with videos of her performing at outdoor festivals hyping the crowds up like a pro. Seeing video after video of a pre-Brat Charli unleashing this gutteral, primal scream just before “Vroom Vroom” was a revelation for me. Punk rock! I thought. On top of that, you get to hear her say things like “drive fuckin’ fast” and “somethin’ sporty” in her British accent. I still watch these clips every now and again - it heals something in me.
My hours-at-a-time-long obsession with making playlists. Though I went through a temporary “I’m sick of all music” moment for most of January, I am happily swept up again in playlist-making momentum. Few things (sadly) bring me as much joy as crafting a mood out of songs and then finding a corresponding image for the cover. The “goth metal electronica” and “sad girl bad girl nighttime2” playlists are getting the most mileage out of me these days… You can check them all out here.
Deepak Chopra’s “21 Days of Abundance” meditation challenge. This might be a 21-day program, but I have done this shit in its entirety multiple times since 2020. It never fails in grounding me, helping me remember to stay present and shifting from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance. It’s so easy to forget or lose track of the ability to think abundantly these days (who can blame us, really), and I find it helps me force myself to reshape the way I think and approach daily life.
Walks in nature. Another one that might seem obvious but cannot go overlooked! Another easy grounding practice, I try to walk without music and appreciate the abundance that’s naturally all around us. I should also mention that I’m very much in my “Marianne Williamson” era (randomly in awe of birds), so a walk outside is a real dual-purpose ritual3 for me.
My 2025 Watchlist Challenge. The second self-imposed “challenge” of the list. This one is just to motivate me to a) watch more movies I wouldn’t normally think to watch and b) get through a list of 100 unwatched films I’ve had for over a year. Essentially, I have each film numbered, then every other night or so, I pick a random number 1-100 and tell myself I will watch whatever film it lands on. Sort of like gambling, but with movies and without money. Sometimes, the best medicine for indecision, huge lists and adult ADHD is picking a number at random!
And there we have it - a random list of things helping me exist during a time of true unprecedented chaos followed by previous other periods of true unprecedented chaos. What are yours? Let me know!4
no one’s ready for the “Elon Musk isn’t from Earth” conversation but I am not afraid!
obviously, I don’t put as much effort into the titles of the playlists…
purposely resisted a “two birds, one stone” joke here, but still had to let you know how hard it was for me to resist it
no but really, if you’re reading this, i hope you’re okay <3
My favorite Trader Joe's sheet cake influencer!!!
GreatgreatGREAT, as always