Disappointed California Voters Seek Solace and Common Purpose After the Election

(HEMET, Calif.) — Ding. The sound of the door chime rings through the store as another attendee walks in. The scent of warm herbal tea is in the air as Manager Jillian Lange cheerfully greets the guests as they walk in. Standing behind the counter of refreshments she directs the guests to a circle of chairs where about a dozen Temecula residents are sitting facing each other. “If you haven’t already, grab a seat!” She says cheerfully. “We’ll start with the election talk in just a few minutes.”

Welcome to the “United in Renewal: Post Election Support Healing” event, advertised online as a “Free Community Gathering for discussion and healing around the election results.”

Bliss Crystals, a Temecula crystal shop, is one of several businesses that hosted post-election events, creating safe spaces for community members who did not vote for President-elect Donald Trump to share their concerns and thoughts about the presidential election.

The popularity of such events and reports of declining mental health post election,  reflect the toll of a stressful campaign season on Californians and those in other states. 

The effects of the election

Once the 2024 election ended, millions of people flooded social media with their reactions and responses to the news that Trump had won. Many expressed worry over the potential impact of the election on the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, immigrants, and women due to campaign promises or statements by Trump that put some members of those groups at risk of discrimination, deportation, or disparagement.  Common on X and other platforms were stories of families arguing and cutting off relatives based on their political views. Users expressed their anger and hurt, mentioning how it’s taken a toll on them mentally and that the holidays wouldn’t be the same.

Screenshot of an X post from user S.B. Roberts commenting on the election results  [Credit: X]

 “Ironic that Trump bragged that thanks to him we could say Merry Christmas again. Unfortunately, however, also thanks to him we will be saying it alone,” wrote X  user S.B Roberts referring to the divide in families due to political stances. 

”We have a friend group that got together for Friendsgiving, and we found out that the partner of a close friend voted for Trump. An argument broke out between that partner and another friend because it goes against everything he stands for (they are both queer). Now our friend group is torn apart because that whole night was an exhausting argument. The overall consensus was that we are not getting together for New Year’s,” said David, a California resident who did not wish to share his last name for privacy reasons.  “It’s hard because it’s such a sensitive topic, but it does make me sad.”

Post-election crisis hotlines

According to a  Oct. 3 story from the mental health services company Better Help, stress levels after the election increased and causing physical and mental health concerns like anxiety and depression, a condition it dubs “post-election stress disorder.”

News media were quick to pick up on the trend, with outlets like CBS, CNN, and Fortune publishing tips on dealing with post-election stress and emotions. 

A home displays political views not far from Bliss Crystals. [Credit: Natalie Martinez]

On Nov. 6, the day after the election,  The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis organization for LGBTQ+ youth based in California, reported an increase of nearly 700% in calls and texts to its crisis intervention services compared to the weeks prior.  Likewise, it saw a huge spike calls concerning election results. 

Some members of the  LGBTQ+ community feel  under attack with Trump’s promised policies such as the exclusion of transgender people from Title IX and banning gender-affirming care for minors.

The Trump campaign and Republican groups spent $21 million on anti-trans and LGBTQ propaganda ahead of his second term reported by ABC News.  

Meanwhile, this year Congress is weighing 84 bills deemed ‘anti-trans’ by the Trans Legislation Tracker. None, have passed according to the tracker, but that could change with the new Congress and administration which put trans issues at the center of its campaign. 

People feeling “post-election stress disorder” can find solace at a place like Bliss Crystals where people are invited to share their political feelings or just relax and think about anything but the election. 

Post-election talks

“The way myself and my family were feeling, and we observed many others were feeling the same way so we decided to gather so we could talk and not feel alone,” said Lange, manager and co-creator of Bliss Crystals. 

At Bliss Crystals the participants talked about their feelings concerning the 2024 election. The circular seating arrangement consisted of locals, primarily women with a few men, their age range varied, from older to young adults, and all of them greeted each other warmly. One woman was dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt, blue jeans, and a tan scarf wrapped around her neck as the temperature dropped when it got dark outside. Another woman stretched out a blanket on the floor to lay on, her yoga pants and green shirt gave the vision of comfort, while the large crystal hanging around her neck showed she had frequented stores like this one before.

Lange sat at the head of the circle, pillows scattered by her feet in preparation for the “sound bath” later.  She held a neat stack of papers in her hand, a conversation guide she said her mother had printed out for the discussion.

The rules were simple, do not attack anyone based on their political preference. To maintain anonymity everything mentioned in the meeting would stay in the meeting including names, not to be criticized or spread around, and be courteous when others were speaking. One of the younger participants nodded their head while fiddling with her crystal stone ring, twisting the pink gem back and forth, anxious. Two older women, one in blue, the other in a muted green, took sips of their drinks before setting them on the floor, causing others to do the same.

One of the men sat in the corner slouched in his seat, his thick-framed glasses slid down the bridge of his nose as he crossed his arms and spread out his legs to get more comfortable.

After the rules were stated, there was a long pause.

”I’ll go first, I just can’t stand seeing that man’s (Trump) face,” said an older woman wearing a blue shirt embroidered with a small American flag, breaking the ice.

It was an hour-and-a-half session of taking turns speaking out about frustration and worries about the upcoming presidential term, the shock of the majority of Americans voting for Trump, and how they are trying to deal with and heal from post-election stress. 

“We just found out more than half of America voted for hate,” said a young woman, her curly hastily being put up into a bun to stay out of her face, wet from tears. 

Bliss Crystals in Temecula [Credit: Natalie Martinez]

The frequent concerns mentioned were livelihoods in the LGBTQ+ community; the safety of their friends and families, the regression in women’s rights, and the overall hate and fear directed at minorities by conservatives.

There was an increase in passion within the conversation when a community online chat was mentioned. An older woman participant stated their frustration with local community members who “blew up” the community chat group with negative and insensitive remarks when Trump won the election, praising his victory. 

“People are traumatized by the idea of another four years of Trump, when we thought we were about to be done with him and finally have our first female president,” said Lange.

Participants vented their feelings and comforted each other by offering advice on how to destress from the election, such as less TV time, going out for walks, talking through their emotions, and meditating, amongst others. Lange ended the night by asking participants to close their eyes and listen to a ten-minute sound bath, a tactic used to de-stress and heal.

The sound bath was conducted with a singing bowl, a large circular bowl made from frosted quartz crystal used  with a mallet. One tap on the bowl from the mallet produces a gong-like sound, turning into a long hum when the mallet in circled around the bowl repeatedly for a desired amount of time, in this case, 10 minutes.  

The older women who was laid out on her blanket slowly sat up, stretching her arms over to head and blinked her eyes open slowly. A wide smile of relaxation on her face.

Conversations across the country

Other post-election talks promoted across California included the UCLA-sponsored  “Election Reflections: Latino Voters and the Future of American Politics, Los Angeles for All hosted “Post-Election Grief and Healing Assembly Circle,” and Americans United for Separation of Church and State held “Religion, Democracy, and the 2024 Election panel,” all held and advertised within the same month of the election.

Post-election conversations continues to be held across the country. West La College held a post-election community healing event where attendees could attend in person or on Zoom,  guided by a therapist who will provide ways to deal with negative emotions due to the election. The Revolutionary Love Project, an advocacy group promoting building community on ethic of love held a virtual “Post-Election Healing Circle” on Nov. 13, promoting mindfulness and self-care. NYU held three post-election panels in November, one of them called “Students of Color Post-Election Community Space” which promoted connection and support.

“I think it’s really encouraging overall that people are coming together to process and share their emotions and experiences and thoughts/fears after the election,” said Andrea Jones-Rooy, a data and political scientist and panelist at the NYU 2024 Post-Election Panel, moved by the community effort. “I am encouraged by the amount of energy and interest there has been across lots of different communities — at least in the NYC area! — to come together to talk about all this. I am by no means an expert in psychology, but this feels really collectively healthy!” 

Back at Bliss Crystals, participants opened their eyes as the last ring from the sound bowl faded away, knowing that the event had come to a close. They walked out, thanking Lange for the opportunity to talk through their feelings. Each participant left smiling.

“If we don’t take care of ourselves then it’s like we’ve given up and then won’t be able to fight back, and make them accountable,” said Lange.