It’s Election Day in America, which means millions of people are exercising their right to vote, democracy is doing its thing, and somewhere, someone has already refreshed the election results page 47 times before lunch.
Maybe that someone is you. And if it is, I see you. I love you. And we need to have a little chat.
Put your damn phone down.
Yes, I’m serious. And no, I’m not suggesting you stop caring. I’m suggesting that caring deeply about something and spending every waking minute watching it unfold are two very different things. Somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us have started confusing the two.
For LGBTQ+ people, elections aren’t abstract political exercises. We’re talking about our families, our healthcare, our safety, our kids, and whether the rights and protections we’ve fought for will still be there tomorrow. Those are real stakes, and I understand why so many people are anxious today.
We’re still showing up for our patients, clients, colleagues, and communities. We’re still juggling packed appointment schedules, short-staffed shifts, difficult conversations, and the occasional Labrador who has decided that consuming an entire pack of socks was a perfectly reasonable life choice. Except today, some of us are doing all of that while checking election updates between appointments and wondering what the future might look like for the people we love.
And that’s where I want to offer a little tough love.
Your anxiety is not a civic duty.
Refreshing election results every four minutes isn’t advocacy. Reading the same alarming prediction from twelve different accounts isn’t organising. And making yourself miserable while waiting for information that hasn’t even been released yet isn’t helping anyone.
I say this with love, and as someone who spends a significant amount of my professional life paying attention to the things that threaten our community. I understand the instinct to keep watching. I also know that social media is exceptionally good at convincing us that if we’re not constantly paying attention, we’re somehow failing to care enough.
There’s always another headline, another prediction, another person in the comments who is spectacularly, confidently wrong about something. (And somehow, that person has unlimited free time. Truly remarkable.)
But at some point, staying informed turns into doomscrolling, and doomscrolling turns into sitting on your couch feeling increasingly terrible about things you can’t actually change at that moment.
And I’m going to need you for more than that.
The work doesn’t stop tomorrow.
One of the things I love about my work with PrideVMC is that I get to see how much difference people make in the lives of others through things that will never make the news. The veterinary technician who speaks up when a client makes a hateful comment. The practice manager who makes sure their team’s chosen names and pronouns are respected. The veterinarian who takes a student aside and lets them know it’s safe to be themselves.
None of those things depends on what happens in an election tonight. And none of that work stops tomorrow.
There will still be students who need mentors, colleagues who need someone in their corner, and veterinary professionals who are looking for a community where they don’t have to explain or defend who they are. That’s where I want us putting our energy. Into things that actually make someone’s day, workplace, or life a little better.
And I don’t want us so exhausted from watching the news that we have nothing left to give when those moments come.
Now, I’m not suggesting we ignore what’s happening. Election outcomes have real consequences, and pretending otherwise would be insulting to the people whose lives are directly affected. There may be difficult conversations and serious advocacy work ahead of us. I’m not interested in sugarcoating that.
But I also refuse to accept the idea that being constantly anxious is somehow proof of our commitment to one another.
You are allowed to care deeply about what happens today without making yourself miserable watching it unfold.
So here’s your Election Day assignment.
If you haven’t voted and you’re eligible, go vote. If you’ve already voted, help someone else get there. Text a friend, offer a ride, or check in on someone who might be having a particularly hard day.
And then, for the love of all things good, go do something that makes you happy.
Go outside. Pet something furry. Eat something delicious. Watch something ridiculous. Spend time with the people who make you feel safe and loved. If you’re working today, take your lunch break, drink some water, and maybe resist the urge to check election results while you’re supposed to be listening to someone’s cat’s gastrointestinal history.
And please stop trying to predict the future based on a county that has counted 4% of its votes.
Whatever happens tonight, our community doesn’t disappear. Our value doesn’t change. Our right to belong doesn’t change. And the work we’re doing to make veterinary medicine a safer, more inclusive profession doesn’t suddenly become more or less important because of an election result.
We’ll still be here tomorrow. We’ll still have each other. And we’ll figure out what comes next together.
But tonight? I want you to remember that you’re allowed to enjoy the life you’re working so hard to protect. You don’t have to earn that joy by exhausting yourself first.
Now, with all the love in my big, queer-affirming, veterinary-loving heart…
Put your damn phone down. 💜
<3 Stephanie