Notices by Shaula Evans (shaulaevans@zirk.us)

@ifixcoinops I am a far cry from a tall person, and yet as a short person with cold feet, I enorse this message! lol

Thanks for the tag, Dan.

Also, I stash my morning clothes in the bed with me overnight, too. It's so much easier to get out of bed if I'm warm in my bones and have something toasty to wear.

@grrrr_shark You don't have to make it work. He's the moth, you're the flame in this instance. If he wants to make it work he can work for it. xo

@grrrr_shark Please remember me when you are rich and famous!

@grrrr_shark This is highly relatable. 😘

@grrrr_shark A cabin duplex with hot and cold running mountain men? I'm in!

The thing about content warnings on Mastodon is... I am trying to be more thoughtful, compassionate and generous in how I use them.

It's a process. I'm working on it.

Thinking about the distinction between education and indoctrination.

When we're under stress, our adrenal glands produce extra cortisol. That's what makes us feel wired at night when our minds are racing and we can't sleep.

A good low tech, low cost way to lower cortisol is to add heat to the middle back (over the adrenal glands). The heat is soothing (for most people, ymmv) and the increased blood flow normalizes cortisol production.

A warm bath, a heat mat, an electric blanket or a heat pack all work.

If you need to spool down to sleep, give it a try.

A few years back I read a fascinating study about different types of intentional breathing for lowering stress and emotional regulation. One of the styles the studied was 'box breathing", which they expected to be most effective. They were surprised that the winner was breathing in on a 4 count and breathing out on a 6 count.

Update: Found it! Courtesy of @Mastodon Thank you again, Heather.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9873947/

#MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon #ResearchMastodon

@bmacDonald94 Thank you, Bill. I am taking care of myself as best I can, I promise.

There's a lot of (valid) advice going around to check in with your friends right now.

I'll let you in on a secret: that person who always checks in with you to make sure that you're okay? Odds are high that no one is checking in with them.

Your "strong friend", the one you lean on, needs support, too.

We truly never know what other people are going through. Don't assume you know which of your friends are vulnerable or hurting. Check in on all your people.

(Signed, the strong friend who has been holding other people together while I've been locked up alone for this whole pandemic and you've used me up, I am empty, I cannot eat your grief, traumas and sorrows any longer, if anyone had refilled me before now I might be here for you but you're on your own)

*That's not an SOS. I'm fine. I'm just exhausted. But I'm also angry that I'm going into this moment burnt out and depleted when in my heart I would like to be able to help other people but I have been so under-supported for so long that I can offer people who need and deserve help almost nothing.

If you need to withdraw from people to survive right now (I often do myself), here are two gentle suggestions:

1. Let people know, if you can. Don't just go dark. So that you don't alarm people around you And also to prevent drama coming back to you when people worry.

2. Pick a designated friend or two who you trust for a daily check in, even if it's just texting an emoji. It's a good safety check & a tether to the world.

Actively caring for others is a radical act.

Survival is a radical act.

Are you using Signal yet for free encrypted text messages, voice notes, video calls, audio calls, and group chat?

It is a GREAT day to get on Signal, connect with your friends on Signal, and start moving your conversations onto Signal.

Once you set it up on your phone you can also use it on desktop.

Go ahead, install it tonight. As a gift to yourself and your connections.

https://signal.org/download/

Normalize asking questions, verifying sources, and refusing to worship position titles.

Good candidates win based on their ground game aka field work. It takes an army of volunteers to make Get Out The Vote (GOTV) happen. Canvassing will not be pandemic-safe for many but there is also phone banking that can be done from home.

If you want to help, call a local campaign office (including downticket) or local or state party office to volunteer ASAP. You can make a difference. Call now.

Read on before replying. 1/3

Why call now? Because campaigns are in overdrive, understaffed, getting loopy from sleep deprivation, and it takes time to process and slot in volunteers. There's still time to make a difference, a huge difference, if you want to get involved. The sooner you call the better.

Note: I didn't use hashtags, party names or troll triggers. (And yet you all still know who I'm talking about!) Keep them out of my mentions.