Winds of Change: Thoughts on Election Year and Maintaining Inner Peace

Today, the winds of change blow heavy upon us.

Metaphorically and physically.

It is a very windy Wednesday, with autumn leaves blowing everywhere, its debris decorating the streets, whirling into patterns and rushing into every direction. The political landscape, for many, feels like desert dunes, whose peaks are shifted by the climate.

It is currently 11:34AM in Long Beach, California and the atmosphere is calm and quiet. It is the morning after Election Day, where the results from last night’s polling ripple its effects through this portion of reality.

I awoke to texts in group chats, where my friends lamented upon the selection of a candidate they did not vote for. The barista I interacted with as I ordered my lunch and drink expressed his discontent. I offered some semblance of platitude but I know perhaps it may not help.

As someone who subscribes to an apolitical philosophy, I feel a plethora of things at this moment. Mainly:

1. Extreme gratitude for the privilege I have to remain, in a way, unaffected by politics
2. Empathetic towards people who feel deeply affected by politics
3. A sense of pleasurable detachment from the feelings of fear and stress that the topic of politics generally brings about

The Epicureanism system of philosophy advocates a few main tenets:

• Pleasure is its sole intrinsic goal (the absence of suffering for the body and trouble for the soul)
• The absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure
• Epicureans generally removed themselves and their attention from politics because it conflicted with the pursuit of virtue and peace of the mind
• Ataraxia: tranquility and freedom from fear
• Aponia: absence of bodily pain

I’m not attempting to sway anyone to subscribe to an apolitical point of view but I will say that the above mentioned points greatly impact my sense of peace, connectedness and well-being.

Much news and traditional systems and frameworks aim to create unnecessary stress and fear within the population.

All I am doing is encouraging people to practice their free will, their autonomy, their sovereignty and reclaim their inner power. That nothing outside of you can affect you unless you allow it.

So as the physical and metaphorical winds of change come upon us today, I stay rooted, grounded and centered within myself, knowing that I am safe, I am loved and I am wholly connected to my soul.

I embrace the changes and challenges and joys that come upon us, knowing that whatever happens, it is meant to be and I will be alright.

Wishing you all well,

Jules