Voting the Drama Out of Our Lives

An election day invitation to tune out the fear, and tune into love.

Hi beautiful being,

Being an American living in Europe during the presidential election is eye-opening. The way Europeans talk about our politics, really gets you thinking. Lisa and I have chatted with people from Scotland, Italy, England, Slovakia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Switzerland, and beyond—and one way or another, they say:

American politics is like a reality TV show based on a soap opera. It’s basically a slow-motion trainwreck that you want to stop watching, yet can’t turn your eyes away from—and definitely plan to chat with your mates about in the morning.

In other words: The drama of how divided we are in the United States, the craziness of the accusations on both sides, our inability to be civil across party lines, and how candidates are winning our votes based on fear—turns out to be, quite entertaining for others to watch.

Honestly, the way I hear people over here talk about our election—and by extension, the American people—reminds me of the daytime soaps my mom used to enjoy. And I’m not talking about the feel-good parts, like Luke and Laura’s wedding in General Hospital. I mean the bits that are spiked with drama, conspiracy, finger-pointing, betrayal, subterfuge, and fearmongering. Now while this can make for a gripping fictional TV show—I know I loved me some Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place back in the day—it really is a quite terrible way to live. It’s no wonder we are so dang stressed! Do you know what I mean, friend?

With that in mind—and whether you’re American or not—I invite us to vote the soap operas in our lives out of office. Not only in the ways we engage with politics, but also in our relationships with friends, family, coworkers, social media, ourselves, television, and so on. What’s that mean? Great question, and I’d love to hear what it means to you in the comments. Some ideas that come to my mind include:

Tuning out the messages based in fear, to tune into those rooted in love.

Shift from being part of a finger-pointing culture, to one that “hugs and holds”—so to speak.

When you engage with someone on the other “side” from you. Take a deep breath. Remember, they’re another human doing the best they can—just like you. And let curiosity and kindness guide you. It turns out, for example, asking a person “why” they believe the way they do, is far more beneficial than telling them why they’re wrong.

Click away from stories, posts, articles, etc. that have a dramatic feel to them. The algorithms base our feed, at least in part, on what we do and don’t click, “like”, and comment on. I can personally attest that reserving your reactions for things centered on love and positivity works well, over time.

Remember the truth of the childhood adage: When you point one finger at someone else, you’re pointing four back at yourself. “Unsubscribe” to candidates, thoughts, and anything else that makes a point of how the other side is any form of wrong, scary, or bad. Judging others says more about the character of the person doing the judging, than the person/group being judged.

Choose grace for yourself and others. Humans make mistakes. In the few tips I just shared, I can already see how I “failed” each of these over the last few days. When you fall—as we all do—let grace help you up, dust you off, and get you going again.

That said, I’m keen to hear from you: What are some other ways we can vote the drama out of our lives?

Hugs & Love,

Lang (aka “Dr. Love”)

P.S. Did you know that clicking the “like” button 🤍 helps other people find this post—while bringing a smile to my face? Also, if you think this could aid anyone, please consider sharing and/or “restacking” it. And above all, remember: You are amazing, and I hope you have a beautiful day!