
Today is January 23, 2025 and the spotlight is on the office of the Presidency of the United States of America. This is HARD for those of us who care about humans and other living things, and we can do hard things. I started writing this on the 20th and simply couldn't find hope, so I paused, and then I found it. I'm here today with my thoughts and opinions on this predicament we find ourselves in and what we can do to resist it. There is hope.

Many in the world watched while a man known for his arrogance, entitlement, and insatiable need for attention and admiration, unrealistic inflation of his accomplishments, seemingly endless lies, 34 felony counts of falsified business records, sexual misconduct allegations from 26 women & found liable of rape, had extramarital affairs on all wives, constant complaints of victimhood, lack of personal accountability, and constant projection of his own shadow onto anyone he views as an opponent is sworn into the highest office of the land. His patterns of behavior are very concerning and to understand a bit more, you can look up Narcissism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and you'll see a list of 9 requirements (that a pattern of at least 5 need to be met) to meet the criteria. I would say he displays patterns of these behaviors to meet these criteria.
What has happened in our country? How can a man who displays no self awareness, no moral compass, no common decency, nor empathy, and has displayed outrageous criminal behavior even allowed to hold any public office? Was the election rigged? Were the results tampered with? Is MAGA a cult? Maybe all are at play. (Oxford Languages defines cult as a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. "a cult of personality surrounding the leaders.")

I think this phenomenon of displayed cognitive dissonance through almost worshiping this man (who now holds the highest office in the land) fits the definition of a cult.
If this a cult then are we at the some point in some sort of new pandemic? Have his followers caught his narcissistic contagion? Will it spread? Has he given xenophobia and all forms of fear of other permission to embolden their ugly beliefs through his cruel and bullying behaviors, or are they swept up in the group mind of MAGA? Maybe it's both. The kinds of damage that can be done by this kind of hateful behavior is serious, and I'm very concerned for his targets of women and children, LGBTQIA+, people of color, disabled, and all marginalized people in the world. I'm very concerned for the health and the wellbeing of anyone who is not a wealthy white man. We need to be attuned to who we are able to help and do so.

We're going to feel all of this tension as Highly Sensitive People. We notice everything and we feel it all. Many will not experience what we know and this will be challenging, it already is because we can sense injustice a mile away. We are the definition of empathy and we suffer when cruelty is evident to us. We're like the canary in the coal mine and we've been chirping loudly, and we're learning our strength and power and will be heard. I'm here to help. As a Highly Sensitive Person who has suffered and survived narcissistic abuse I know the severe damage these people can do to one's body, mind, spirit, and emotions. This behavior is intended to wear us down as they play their game to win at any cost, including our health. And, we're increasingly wise to them, we're resilient, and we'll surprise ourselves with how powerful we are when we unite!

Why do people with these patterns of behavior do this? They need control: Control of the finances, control of choice, control of the people around them, control of the environment, and control the very tempo of the environment as a form to feel superior. They are empty and need to create discordance to match their own so they feel in control. They're like a hungry ghost devouring everything in sight with never getting enough, and continually taking more and more. Being in a relationship with someone like this is exhausting, resulting in dis-ease and often resulting in autoimmunity. It's not good for any living being. So, what can we do? We stop giving them our precious energy, we starve them we, and we don't play their game.

If an individual in a toxic relationhsip becomes worn down, insecure, depressed, anxious, and unwell through all of this manipulation, just imagine what will happen nationwide with a mentally unstable man who is displaying fascism and in control of this high office. He and his minions have had years to plan this game. He's surrounding himself with the wealthiest of the wealthy because he equates this with power, and like a bunch of naughty children they think they have us fooled. They want their way. They want to be king of the mountain, the pirate king, the top dog. Remember, they live in their own warped world where they are in control, and we live in a world where we choose where we give our attention, energy, and money. We do not have to give them access to us. We have choice. History shows this kind of leadership fails.
These will be challenging times. We will be pushed. And, I do believe that we can survive because we are powerful when we are united, and separating us is part of their plan, so we counter that with coming together. If zenophobia is ignorance, and ignorance is fear we can educate. Have you heard of the acronym for fear? False Evidence Appearing Real, so let's talk, let's connect, let's educate so that we can come together. Human beings are interesting beings with differnces. There is no such thing as one size fits all. We're all different. These executive orders that are targeting people other than weathy white men have huge flaws in them because they're based on personal beliefs.
And there are laws in place to check him. All of those executive orders he's issuing now are not law yet; they'll need to go through extensive legal hurdles. This is part of the game; to pelt us with fear to keep us stressed and afraid. But, there will be lawsuit after lawsuit issued against his orders, and there already are. There are gates in place. We must stay focused and not lose hope. They'll try and try to keep us down and we are powerful in numbers when united. We can do hard things! Breathe and remember that we have voices, checkbooks, ability, and voting rights still. We will do what we have to do to survive. We matter.

Today, I finally had the breakthrough I needed to move forward with this blog and I feel a bit lighter. Life's a process isn't it? I gave myself some space and it helped me receive guidance. There is hope. We are not them and I believe most people have the capacity for empathy. There are things we can do to resist and counter the power of this heartless adminstation if we are intentional in our actions. We have choice, and we have power in numbers. Here are just a few of my ideas of things that we can do individually and collectively. I know there are many more, and I'd love to hear your ideas:
We can breathe intentionally, ground ourselves, and regulate our nervous systems daily so that we remember who we are as intelligent, capable, and valuable & worthy people. We have agency and we'll use it for our own good and the good of the collective.
We can use our bodies to release tension and restore resiliancy with yoga, tai chi, qigong, whatever helps each of us.
We can become clear on what we want and how we want to be treated, and insist upon it with our confident boundaries.
We can do our personal healing and growth work so that we're healthy, strong, and empowered.
We can meditate and pray for guidance and direction.
We can grow our own food, make what we need, recycle, upcycle, thrift, help our neighbors, trade, barter, use cash, save cash for the times we'll need it, share cash when we can, and support local vendors...
We can be the example of kindness and generosity that we all need.
We can get to know our neighbors and ask questions with curiosity to learn why they believe what they believe. If it's in this administration we can learn about our commonalities, and help them to understand and empathize with us about our differences.
We can be patient, but firm, with his followers because I do beleive they are in the cult of T, brainwashed, and will need a great deal of help assimilating into humanity again. Steven Hassan has written a book which will be helpful in this area of our understanding.
We can educate ourselves by studying the constitution and Bill of Rights, and following trusted objective teachers to learn how government works.
We can resist his regime by supporting legal organizations like the ACLU and others like Citizens for Ethics that are combating threats to people & democracy.
We can learn about Govenors Safeguarding Democracy, get involved, and support them.
We can support our ethical elected officials on the state level and participate in local and state elections.
We can volunteer and get involved with local organizations that represent us.
We can learn more about people who are different to understand their specific needs and support them, such as: Women's needs and rights, LGBTQI+ needs and rights, POC needs and rights, Disabled needs and rights...
We can become involved in causes that we feel are important.
We can boycott those like Bezos, Musk, & Zukerberg, that support and finance fascism and this administration.
We can boycott businesses that support this admisistration like Jimmy John's, Amazon, Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, New York Jets, Chicago Cubs, TD Ameritrade, Meta.... DemocratsAbroad.org has extensive information on this.
Standing up to speak your truth and do the right thing is very important if we want to live free lives. I know we have self agency, and I am also concerned about the general public and the impact the behaviors being modeled will have on our children of all ages. My concern is that the bad behavior being modeled by the president and his minions is contagious and will be emulated and be normalized. We cannot allow the gaslighting, the exploitation, and the incideous forms of abuse that follow to become more and more normatlized in this political climate. This personality disorder acts like a contagion, a virus, that will spread and make a bad situation into a terrible situation if we aren't proactive (even in small ways.) We need to counter these behaviors with kindness when possible, appropriate responses ( Jefferson Fisher has excellent advice on how to respond to difficult people,) and boundaries that are upheld with consequences.
These are my thoughts. I'm interested in your thoughts too and welcome them.
There is hope. He hasn't taken over yet. It's not over. We're here and we're smart, capable, and together. If you'd like personal help healing, strengthening, and growing stronger in your self empowerment I'm here to help. Please contact me so that we can talk about your next steps.

I believe in the power we hold in unity. Let love prevail. Let's be the change we want.
Warmly,
Janis E. McKinstry, MA
If you want to dive deeper into the psychology of T's particular flavor of narcissism you can listen to Dr. Bandy discuss it here: https://youtu.be/DNkkKyCr1TI?si=rS4NRk7SOP26UTNp)
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