I've been struggling with this, as I'm sure most people are. It hit me last night (again), when I was essentially numb as I tried to tune out the insanity from Trump's speech to Congress.
I try to assume everyone is trying to do the right thing, in their own way, from their own perspective. Even Trump. He's a scared little man, used to entitlement and getting his way. From that perspective, he's just trying to use his awesomeness to save the world from lesser men. Yikes.
I can't buy into the whole fear-everything-at-all-costs rhetoric. I can't understand the xenophobia and hate that builds from that. I can't do anything to change this - I'm not American, so I can't even vote against it.
All I can do is persist. To keep going. To show there is another way.
But - with the toxic and corrosive sludge pouring out of Trump and his team (go team!) - there is a tax imposed on all of us.
I sat there, numb, again, unable to do anything. I didn't write. I didn't read (aside from constant opinions and snark online). I didn't make art, dammit. What a waste of my time and energy. Of all of our time and energy.
So, I'm going to try harder to just persist. To tune out what I can't have any effect on. To try to make a difference in my local context rather than stressing about global systems that I can't understand never mind change.