Everything is lovely, everything is bright, everything is here because of glorious desire.

Everything become a salvation, you and I, we will survive.

Everything is broken, everything is pain, everything is dark and pointless.

What is there to say? Everything is empty, everything died, you and I.

Welcome to the first Trump era episode of the Lerogist Podcast, part two of our trilogy on suffering.

And the election results were so significant that they changed our planned content for this episode.

So we're to use a football term calling an audible, I think I'm using that correctly.

And we're changing this episode to include the discussing of suffering in a national political context.

Where's your pulse on people right now? I mean, the first day I could barely function, I really couldn't even get out of bed hardly.

I felt hung over. Yeah. And I didn't drink any alcohol. But I feel, I mean, I don't feel the same as that.

So there's just something about what's, what's, you know, what's happening in our brains, chemically, as we're grieving, as we're starting this.

Those of us that didn't want this to happen. Yeah. So grief is a nonlinear process.

And the classic stages of grief are a good descriptor, but they imply a chronological progression that isn't accurate.

And there's also more distinct phases and components of grief.

But there's a sense of separation anxiety as one of the primary neurological motivators for the griefing process.

And in many ways, for some people, the grief of the loss of Hillary Clinton is as expression of a separation anxiety of a parasocial relationship.

And an expectation that they would have a significant parasocial relationship with Hillary Clinton, someone who to some degree they admired or respected.

Instead now they will have a prolonged parasocial relationship. They were looking forward to breaking off with Donald Trump, now President elect Trump.

And so what you see is a lot of confusion on, is the grief justified for how long is the grief justified?

And what do we do while we grieve? And after we grieve, and that's creating what was already very charged environment in our culture, thanks to the election, has actually become even more charged post election.

And I think that's a very important thing. An outcome I did not expect. Of course, I like so many, I was completely blindsided by Donald Trump's victory in the electoral college, although not in the popular vote.

And I've noticed is a tendency for most people to ascribe what is or is not an appropriate reaction to this news, even emotionally.

...