The Election as an Opportunity to Exist Differently
Matt Birkhold
Everywhere I’ve gone over the last two weeks people have shared with me ways that they are struggling with the outcome of the election. Some are shocked by Trump’s victory. Some of us anticipated it but are still feeling uncomfortable. Fear about what will happen is widespread and reasonable. These fears and feelings can be made more intense by a deep feeling of powerlessness.
It’s really important to feel these feelings and acknowledge them. It’s also important to explore the ways that Donald Trump’s election can provide us with real time opportunities to learn to exist differently by making our material and nonmaterial needs equally important. We can do this by slowing down and taking a moment to understand how exactly Trump’s election impacts our material and nonmaterial needs, as well as our fears about not being able to meet them. When we take time to explore these needs and our fears about meeting them, we can also see our creative power to meet them in new ways as individuals and in community.
To help you and your community see your power, your creativity, and to explore ways to use them that are aligned with Visionary Organizing, VOL has put together the following guide to have discussions in your community, your family, your workplace, and in all kinds of other organizations. We invite you to use it in whatever way makes sense for you. If you have the energy, please let us know how you’ve used it. This guide should not be used for conversation with people who support Trump.
Our experience has taught us that the most important first step in supporting others to exist differently is to create species in which people can feel seen and heard. To create space where people can feel seen and heard, you can use the following questions and conversation guidelines.
What feelings are you experiencing?
What questions are you asking?
What are you doing?
How are your beliefs sustaining you, being challenged, or transforming?
What material needs of yours are being threatened?
What material needs are you scared will be threatened?
What nonmaterial needs of yours are being threatened?
What nonmaterial needs are you scared will be threatened?
To create a shared understanding of material and nonmaterial needs, you can use VOLs definition of material and nonmaterial needs:
Material Needs: Tangible requirements necessary for sustaining life and ensuring physical survival. These needs include food, water, shelter, clothing, and healthcare.
Nonmaterial Needs: Intangible requirements necessary for healthy social, psychological, spiritual, and emotional development. These needs include love, care, security, safety, recognition, identity, community, and dignity.
To make people feel seen and heard, you can use these conversation guidelines:
Share your answers to these questions
After people share, don’t give any feedback but feel free to affirm people
Once everyone has shared feel free to share what’s resonated with you or ask any questions
After discussing these questions, you can create space for people to see and understand the power they have in this moment with the following questions:
What might you do to meet your threatened and potentially threatened material and nonmaterial needs on your own?
What might you do in community with others to meet threatened and potentially threatened material and nonmaterial needs?
From answers to these questions visions for how we might meet our material and nonmaterial needs–and transform communities to do the same–during this frightening time can emegre.
VOL has also created an opportunity to practice existing differently by countering Trump’s first 100 days with 100 days of existing differently. Organized by VOL, for 100 days we will build community with each other in a five phase program to learn how to equally emphasize our material and nonmaterial needs. You can get more information here.
