Christine Organ

Most mornings start the same way for me. I reach for my phone, or turn on the news, and ask myself, What fresh hell awaits today?

Each day basically begins with a damage report to gauge my level of pissed-offedness, with several damage reports also interspersed throughout the day. I’m a fairly optimistic person who genuinely believes that most people are mostly good most of the time, but OMG, there is just so fucking much to be pissed off about these days. An education secretary who thinks discrimination is okay and wants to privatize education with vouchers and charter schools. A president who can’t keep his Twitter-happy fingers still and incites hate on the regular. A GOP-run Senate who thinks health care is something reserved for the rich. No justice for the murders of black folks.

I feel nauseous and shaky most days and have had a stress-induced perpetual eye twitch since Inauguration Day. Coincidence? I think not. My desire to be an informed citizen has been in conflict with my desire not to have anxiety attacks or cry nonstop — and I needed a coping mechanism that didn’t consist of stress-eating and complaining on social media.

Enter: the Resist Jar.

It’s kind of like a swear jar, except instead of putting in a quarter for dropping the F-bomb, I toss in money when I get especially pissed, angsty, scared, or frustrated with the state of affairs in our country right now. Basically, any time Trump and his ilk do something abhorrent, ridiculous, hateful, or dangerous, I toss in a couple dollars, a few coins, or if I’m particularly pissed (and can spare the cash), a 10 or a 20.

The Senate votes to strip away health care from 24 million people? Drop some money in the jar.

Threaten to strip our constitutional rights? A few more dollars.

Try to discredit scientists and deny climate change? More money.

Risk nuclear war with a tweet? A few more coins thrown in with gusto.

Resort to name-calling when people exercise their rights to peacefully protest? More. Money.

You get the picture. Basically it’s my personal fuck-you to Trump and his comrades and a way to do something positive to offset his obnoxious and hateful actions.

When the jar is full, I’m going to donate the money to the American Civil Liberties Union and start again.

Let’s be honest, given the shitstorm of awful that Trump has ushered in, there is a real risk that I will blow through my kids’ 529 plans and put my family in bankruptcy in just a few short months if I’m not careful. But the amount of money thrown in the jar isn’t what matters, it’s the sentiment behind it. And let me tell you, even when I’m tossing in a quarter or two, I throw them in with gusto.

It all adds up.

Friends, this Resist Jar is literally saving me right now. It is saving me from falling into a pit of despair. It is saving me from annoying my friends with my incessant bitching about the awfulness of he-who-shall-not-be-named. It is saving me from feeling helpless and hopeless at all times.

If you’ve been feeling mad as hell about the current administration, I can’t recommend the Resist Jar enough. All you need is a jar (or any container, really) and a willingness to turn your angry into something positive. While I plan to donate money from my Resist Jar to the ACLU, there are so many worthy organizations that can use our support because they are particularly vulnerable to Trump’s wrath. Some of them include:

– One America Appeal

– Human Rights Campaign

– Black Lives Matter

– Planned Parenthood

– American Civil Liberties Union

– Southern Poverty Law Center

– Environmental Defense Fund

– Sierra Club

– NARAL Pro-Choice America

– Voces de la Frontera

– NAACP

– National Coalition for Black Civic Participation

– No One Left Behind

– Natural Resources Defense Council

– International Rescue Committee

– Network for Public Education

We might be mad as hell, and each news cycle might be bringing forth a new wave of despair, but let’s do something positive with that anger.