I have a number of family members and friends who steadfastly refuse to engage in the world of the Orange Vandals infesting our federal government. When someone in a group that includes any of them even mentions the T-word, you can see the Refuse-niks go dark. Their eyes avert, their mouths close, and in many ways, they become inert.

It’s as if they just met Medusa and she turned them to stone.

While I sympathize with their approach—a LOT—I’ve been working on a different way to deal with this Era of Anxiety. It’s a daily regimen of staying active in my personal democracy efforts while taking in no more than essential information about the Orange Vandals because I think it’s important to know our enemy.

I also think it’s important to visualize and articulate what comes next. The biggest Orange Vandal is visibly deteriorating, and since MAGA is a personality cult, it will not survive him.

But that will leave a vacuum that we need to fill with what we really want going forward. What kind of a country do we want to be when we grow up? That can be a discussion you can have with anyone but the most devoted MAGA.

In the meantime, I buttress myself with emotional comforts. For what it’s worth, here’s a little list of what I’ve found helpful.

1. Read, do not watch, the news. And be very selective about what you read. Putting this one filter in place eliminates a great deal of crud in your heart and mind. News from a screen comes with a lot of stridency, and you will imbibe that along with any useful information. Who needs to take on someone else’s anxiety? We have enough of our own, thank you very much.
2. Re-watch favoriteTV series or movies that make you smile. Re-read favorite books for the same reason.
3. Turn off your screens entirely. Read, listen to music with your eyes closed, take a long walk, visit a museum, bake bread (or cookies—cookies are always nice), indulge in a longer-than-usual shower, watch clouds, smile at everyone who crosses your path and wish them a good day.
4. My husband and I did this activity to break our T-word habit, and were amazed at how well it worked. Find a reasonably-sized glass jar and two different items to use as counters. This could be two different dried beans or two different pastas or slips of paper in two different colors. You get the idea.
   You choose one counter, your partner the other. Now, whenever the T-word is spoken, the person who said it has to drop a counter in the jar. At the end of a specified period of time (my husband and I settled on two weeks), the person with the fewest counters in the jar is declared the winner, and gets bragging rights.
   And then you both go out for lunch.
   If you’re at all competitive, you’ll be surprised how quickly your T-word usage drops. And how much you laugh. Not to mention noticing the improvement in your home atmosphere.