How two freakin’ messes are profoundly connected

IT’S A FREAKIN’ MESS: How to Survive Thrive in Divisive Times is the title of my new book. It’s about how to regain peace of mind in divisive times, even when we think we can do little to change a political or social situation.

I wrote most of this book before the COVID-19 pandemic, which is another kind of Freakin’ Mess that is more immediately daunting. But even this huge world event has been massively affected by political divisiveness.

In many countries, the initial denial of the seriousness of the epidemic—through putting political bias above overwhelming factual evidence—has cost us crucial time, which has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of people.

Contrastingly, countries that worked fast, with political unity, and without division between politicians and epidemiological experts, have fared much better in terms of reduced mortality, reduced morbidity, and less damaging economic impact.  As of now, South Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, and the Czech Republic are some of the stand-out examples.

Partisan certainty and angry divisiveness in society and politics diminishes our capacity for intelligent thought—as my book demonstrates—and this results in decisions that cost lives. Therefore we need—even more urgently, I think—to know how to navigate the ongoing, radical political divides and social prejudices that surround us. How to do this is the subject matter of my book.

It’s a Freakin’ Mess: How to Thrive in Divisive Times is about how you can transcend the toxic worlds of political and social divisiveness—with their constant invitations into worry or outrage—and stand in your innate strength, experiencing the pleasure of living according to your own values.  

Yes, it is a freakin’ mess out there—but we don’t need to be. And when we’re not, we have a better chance of being effective in changing our society for the better.