If you’re in the majority like me , you’re part of the 86 percent of folks who are feeling election anxiety. That factoid is thanks to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) and Harris Poll. According to those sources, the stress is due to the uncertainty surrounding the outcome.

As a former TV reporter, I know there is more good news than bad out there. I truly believe that there are more good humans than bad on this planet, even though what you read and hear may not reflect this fact.

So besides staying away from excessive TV watching and limiting my time on social media, here are some things I’m doing tonight to calm myself. I hope they help you calm yo’ self too, boo.

Take Action

1. Make plans to keep yourself busy. Take a walk, organize a distanced Zoom dinner or work on a DIY project. We all find pleasure and distractions from different activities, so you do you, boo! Read, write, craft, garden, exercise (motion is lotion, lol), watch mindless TV or enjoy a funny comedy.

2. News breaks. Speaking of TV, reduce your time consuming news and social media. ’Nuff said.

3. Connect with your tribe. In times when I’m feeling my highest highs and lowest lows, I call on my peeps to share and commiserate. I remember when Barack Obama won his first presidential election, I gathered at a bar with friends as the results came in and history was made.

Last year, we had a potluck at a friend’s home. This year, let’s be COVID-19 clear. I’ll be chillin’ at home and will probably do some FaceTimes and calls with my beloved. Support groups are the best and help relieve stress internally and externally.

4. Gratitude: You’ve heard the saying “darkness doesn’t live where light exists.” Likewise, fear and anxiety can’t take up the same space as gratitude. Count your blessings and pass them on to others.

5. Sharing is caring: Do something kind for a neighbor or friend. I’m giving some succulent plants I’ve grown to neighbors tomorrow!

6. VOTE. Like your life and the planet depend on it.

Lemme know your thoughts and share in the comments or tag me @toanlamtv & @goinspirego.

See you on the other side!

Be safe, sane and good to yourself and remember to do a kind deed for someone else.

Love ya,
Toan

The post How to Calm Yo-self: The 2020 Election Edition appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

I need a detox.

My social media feed, personal conversations and exchanges on the streets echo the same sentiments. We’re tired. Sick and tired. We’re terrified. I get it. The day after the election, I went to my Facebook feed to find solace, but as I got sucked into all the negativity, anxious feelings seeped in again.

Tears flowed as I saw images of swastikas and heard stories of hate crimes on the rise (post election) and kids telling parents they’re scared they might have to pack up and leave the comforts of their home. One openly gay millennial posted on FB that he is scared for his safety and his rights to love openly. He asked for some words of comfort to calm his anxiety.

In the face of this, we have two options:
1. Be part of the change and spread light in the world.
2. Be part of the problem and fester in the dark.

I choose to move forward.

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Here are several things I did to get myself out of what I call the #PostElectionPTSD:

1. Be of service: Many folks tell me they feel helpless. We all have the power to shift that energy.

I reached out to a few people I mentor who felt mired in depression. We spent time simply talking about their feelings and mine. It turns out trying to help them has helped me even more!

Still at a loss at what you can do? Put your money where your mouth is. Donations to organizations like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have spiked since the election, so donate to causes you care about!

2. Spend time doing more of what you love. What brings you joy? Reading? Exercising? Binge watching a Netflix flick? Do it!

I love cooking, writing, designing (see flowers on right), spending time with loved ones and yoga. Actually, I’m going to yoga tonight at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco — yes, yoga in church! It’s a special session taught by renowned instructor Darren Main and the benefits go to Yoga for Change to benefit at-risk youth! All we have to do is show up with a mat and donate $20. Double yeah!

3. Gratitude. Counting and writing down the things you’re grateful for rewires your brain to look for them and brings awareness to all the awesomeness in your life.

4. Sing, laugh & dance. No explanation needed. My guilty pleasure is Googling “Adele news” to see what’s up with my favorite chanteuse. Sounds creepy, I know, but HELLO, how can you not love her?

5. Share kindness/kind news. The first thing I did after the election was write this bloggity: “The KIND of America I see.”

Now it’s your turn — let’s flood people’s social media feeds with positivity.

I started to feel better when I saw this Instagram post:

Calling all creatives: get creating! I had an idea and a challenge as I deal with this #PostElectionPTSD. I’m a creator. If I’m not creating, arranging, writing or doing something creative, I feel stifled. It also helps me relieve stress.

So write, design or create something that brings light into the world and share it with your network and me! Alternatively, I urge you to share something positive you’ve experienced or heard on your social feed or in real life. Would love to spread the kindness y’all are seeing: Tag me: #PostElectionPTSD @toanlamtv @goinspirego

If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, let’s change what we see, say and think. According to a study by the University of British Columbia, good news results in better people.

I believe this so much, I left my successful TV news career seven years ago to discover and share positive stories — and their impacts have been more uplifting than any storybook out there. We all have the power to spread light.

Please take a moment to share your light with me. Together, let’s set the internet on fire with kindness, compassion and love. Don’t forget to share the good you’re seeing in the world with me! #PostElectionPTSD @toanlamtv @goinspirego

Onward and upward,
Toan

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The post A Call for Creative Lights in Wake of Post-Election PTSD appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

Today, I pledge the same pledge I made eight years ago. My job was and continues to be finding inspiring people and sharing their stories with the world. I realized after this divisive election that now, more than ever, the world needs to see, hear and feel more goodness.

I’m not going to lie. My heart hurts. I couldn’t sleep on election night and I wept in the dark.

My sadness wasn’t because of the election results. I cried because so many people are hurting. Red, blue … black, white… gay, straight or <FILL IN THE BLANK>, we all feel pain and joy. We are all more connected than we think. We all have the divine allowance of having the human experience.

This post isn’t about my political leanings. No matter what party line you’re on, this historic election shows us that, bottom line, people are hurting.

I’m an immigrant from Vietnam. My family came as boat people. My parents gave up their comfortable life in search for freedom, the chance at a proper education and the American Dream. We ended up in Sacramento, Calif. My first home was in a trailer park.

I didn’t think my own story mattered, so I lost myself in the stories of others. I was obsessed with reading. I read everything — even shampoo bottles aloud in the shower in a pretend broadcaster voice.

As fate would have it, I did achieve the American Dream I imagined for myself. I became a broadcaster, motivational speaker, university instructor and so much more. Thank you, America.

The first eight years of my career were spent in TV news as an on-air reporter. I covered car accidents, the economy’s ups and downs, politics and everything in-between. Most of the stories were about death and destruction. What often didn’t make it on-air were stories of humanity at its best.

I treasure the connections I made with people from all over — red and blue states and small towns and big cities. SO many people told me about stories — good news — that never made it onto TV.

During the economic meltdown of the late 2000s, I decided to leave it all. Mentors told me to hold on. The economy was bad and there were far fewer jobs on-air than there were traditional jobs. But I followed my heart. This led me to reconsider my career choice and ultimately I left TV news.

In contrast, I’ve spent the last eight years covering positive stories about everyday people around the world through my nonprofit, Go Inspire Go. Along that journey, more than 150 volunteers have pitched in to help my mission to tell the stories of these unsung heroes.

It’s come with many hardships. There were times when I doubted myself, but I knew inside it was the right thing to do. I held on. There was a time when I only had 80 cents in my bank account. I held on. There were many times I knew better, so I did better. I remember Oprah telling Lisa Ling, “Once you know, you can’t pretend you don’t.” This inspired me to hold on when I felt like letting go.

I knew that even though I wasn’t rich or famous, I could connect to people on a deep, soul-to-soul level and inspire folks to be and do better for themselves and others. It’s like alchemy, this connection.

Here is a snapshot of a few stories of kindness and love that inspired mini movements of hope. People like Phoebe Russell, a San Francisco kindergartner who was sad to see so many hungry people in her city. She wrote letters asking people to give her aluminum cans so she could recycle them and donate the proceeds to the San Francisco Food Bank.

After sharing Phoebe’s story, a stranger on social media asked me to submit her video to nominate her as a Tyson Foods “Hunger All-Star.” They awarded her a special prize of 15 tons of chicken that was given to the S.F. Food Bank. About a year later, three kids in her former kindergarten class were inspired to replicate her “YES you CAN” drive and raised even more money. In the end, Phoebe’s efforts led to more than 200,000 meals for the needy in San Francisco.

In the Midwest, there’s Amy Pankratz, a stay-at-home mom from Sioux Falls, S.D., who made and prayed over more than 10,000 superhero capes for sick kids and their siblings around the world.

And in New York City, there’s Jorge Munoz, the “Angel in Queens.” For more than a decade, Jorge has devoted countless hours and half his school bus driver salary to purchase groceries, prepare hot, home-cooked meals and pass them out to more than 150 hungry people under a Queens subway station every day.

After sharing Jorge’s story, the worldwide community used their power to pitch in. People sent thank you letters. Random strangers gave money, baked goods and even new appliances to help. Len Harris Inc., a family-owned store in Flushing, N.Y., was inspired by all the generosity and threw in free delivery and set up of the kitchen equipment.

Friends from ServiceSpace heard about our surprise follow-up and wanted to cook for him, and a family from the Midwest moved by Jorge’s selflessness joined me in surprising him with a new refrigerator and stove. We captured this on video. Grab a tissue:

I’m not going to sugarcoat this — this journey has been effin’ hard. The challenges… the ego… letting go and not letting go.

Personally, professionally, spiritually, I have learned a lot about humanity and myself.

What can we all learn from this?

1. I believe people are genuinely good-hearted. Every video I’ve produced with my volunteers have inspired actions both small and large.

2. We are all gems. Some of us lose our sparkle and get dusty because of the characters in our stories who make up our lives. What if we all spent more time doing what we love? Surrounding ourselves with people we love, people who help dust us off and make us shine? There are so many people hurting in our country. It’s a wake-up call to the divided States of America. From jobs to homeland security insecurities, this brings to light the darkness many don’t see in our country. While we are witnessing so much pain across the board, I know there is more good than bad in the world. No matter what your party line, we as humans want to be seen, heard, felt and loved.

3. We have more power than we think. We all have the power to help others. We can’t control what happens, but we have the power to control the way we react. A smile, a kind act, a thoughtful gesture… My challenge to you: Do something nice for yourself and someone else today. The world needs it. The world needs you. Now you know, you can’t pretend you don’t. What can you do?

Onward and upward,
Toan

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The post Healing a Divided States of America — the KIND of Country I See appeared first on Go Inspire Go.