What Are You Doing Now That the Election is Over?

By Christine Cupaiuolo — November 6, 2008

Now that the election is over, are you feeling a little blue (and not just because of the passage of California’s Proposition 8)?

After months of obsessing over tracking polls and following up-to-the-second campaign news round the clock, much of the nation seems to be going through a withdrawal of sorts. New York Times health writer Tara Parker-Pope points to several news stories about our collective crash, some of which include suggestions from psychologists on how to bounce back and re-focus.

Of course, there are still many important issues that demand our attention. Elissa Epel, an associate professor in the psychiatry department at UCSF, tells the San Francisco Chronicle that we are likely to continue intense discussions, though perhaps on different terms: “People will be less plugged into the political pundits each day. They will start to pay attention to neglected longer-term issues – how to survive the recession, how to take of their family and health better. We may notice we are in one of the most stressful eras in recent history.”

Over at Slate, Farhad Manjoo offers suggestions for new topics to obsess over if you’re still glued to your computer screen. The list also includes social networks to join and cool games to play, if you’re looking to take a vacation from the news.

One response to “What Are You Doing Now That the Election is Over?”

  1. Well I am sick in bed… So I guess that’s a crash alright. I’m taking this downtime to do a little blogging and to start my holiday shopping.

    I am using the amazing website: http://www.nonprofitshoppingmall.com so as to have a percent of my gift sales go to my favorite nonprofit group (mine is NAPAfrica.org). The site has ALL of the stores I usually shop at and a whole list of nonprofits to choose to shop+give to.

    Thought all you progressive ladies would like to check it out and use it during the next couple of months:)

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