September of 2025 was Suidice Awareness Month, and marked nine months into Trump 2.0. Besides the calendar, what suicidality and the current political disaster have in common is they can steal our joy. It is nearly impossible to feel joy when the national leadership has targeted your community with outrageous lies and stripped away your rights and the services on which you depend. These attacks, of course, are on top of existing existential challenges such as dealing with racism or transphobia, coping with pain, finding affordable housing, locating affirmative healthcare, and discovering unconditional love. Suicidal thoughts likewise drain a person’s ability to feel joy.
We said it all added up to being nearly impossible to feel joy. Nearly impossible. To help you find life-saving moments of joy, the FORGE team brainstormed a list of things that help us care for ourselves, our loved ones, and have a little bit more joy or peace, even when we can’t do much else. Here’s what we came up with:
- A cold soda after being out in the heat
- A cup of coffee
- A cup of hot water to just hold
- A full container of colored pens always on my desk
- A grabber in every room
- A really hot shower
- A rough sketch of a tree, printed on regular 20lb bond, taped to a shelf in front of my desk
- A walk around the block
- Adding notes to phone contacts that include peoples’ pronouns, birthdays, pet names, partner and kids info
- Asking a friend to wash my hair or help me bathe.
- Boxed mac n cheese
- Chair dancing
- Closing my eyes.
- Cooking potatoes in the slow cooker.
- Crying.
- Cuddling up with my dog
- Decorating my living space with art
- Diet Coke
- Drawafish.com
- Getting up for the sunrise.
Hugging a pillow. - Insulated metal water bottles
- Learning a song on guitar
- Listening to the audio of a poem I like being read outloud.
- Listening to a song on repeat
- Looking at pictures of art I like.
- Looking at the moon.
- Looking up something I don’t know.
- Lying in bed
- Making cookie dough – cook half and freeze half for later.
- Making no knead focaccia (each step is low effort, with lots of time between). Plus the smell of fresh bread is so good.
- NiceNews free email subscription (nicenews.com)
- Online puzzle jigidi.com
- Paper and pens in every room (and car)
- Petting a cat.
- Playing a game I love
- Post-It notes to capture thoughts, ideas, feelings
- Putting ice in your water. Cold water can be such a treat.
- Reading/writing a poem
- Rolling over onto my side.
- Seeing hearts float up on Zoom calls
- Sending a friend a meme.
- Sending someone a postcard.
- Sending random “hello, thinking about you” notes to friends and colleagues
- Singing on my own/in the car
- Singing with people
- Spending time by the river
- Splashing cold water on my face.
- Staying in bed.
- Talking to friends about media/characters I love
- Telling myself that I don’t always have to be productive.
- Telling myself that I have a right to ease.
- The Carhartt section at the store
- The sight of little toe pads of our dog that poke out from under a blanket
- The smell of doTerra On Guard essential oils
- The smell of my partners’ hair
- The soul-filled, full-bellied sounds of Sweet Honey and the Rock
- The sound of rain – gentle or intense – on the roof, sidewalk, trees, car, top of head – anywhere
- Thinking about the smell of fresh baked bread.
- Tracking charts to feel organized and calm
- Turning on a song I love. Play it loudly.
- Wiping my body with a warm washcloth or asking someone to do it for me.
- Wiping down my face with a handiwipe
- Writing down the ten most frivolous things I can complain about.
- YouTubes: Adam Lambert
- YouTubes: Romanovsky and Phillips
- Ziplock bags and other clear storage – making things neat, orderly, and see-able