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How To Be As Chill As Hillary Clinton Is Right Now

by Cate Carrejo

Since the Nov. 8 presidential election, it's been very tempting to feel like the world is coming to an end. Although the rational part of the brain knows that everything will be fine, there's a distinctly apocalyptic feeling to the upcoming Donald Trump presidency that's made the last three weeks wracked with fear and anxiety. If you need a role model on how to stay calm these days, there's one woman who's always been there for you, and you can still turn to her now. Being as chill as Hillary Clinton is after the election won't necessarily be easy, but it could help you move forward and be more productive so you can tackle the next four years.

First, it's important to remember that Clinton's probably not quite as chill as she seems in public. She has to be at least feeling the same emotions as most other liberals, and hers are probably significantly intensified since she was working so hard to try and win the election. The disappointment, anger, frustration, fear, and anxiety have got to be 100 times worse for her than anyone else since she dedicated the last two years of her life and basically had the election stolen from her because of Donald Trump's inflammatory, populist rhetoric.

But she is probably chill because she knows she deserves it. She worked as hard as she could, and fought for the American people like she always has, and even though things didn't go her way, she can rest easy in the knowledge that she tried her best. If you were an active campaigner this year, you deserve the same break. This election was trying for everyone, but no more so than the people on the front lines, so she needs this break to get her life back right now.

If you were especially politically active this year, then you also deserve the opportunity to unplug, destress, and know that everyone appreciates the work you did. But if you didn't get the chance to be active in the campaign, it might actually help you be more chill by funneling your feelings into work now. There are a million ways to get out there and fight for what you believe in, even under the new president-elect, and working towards a goal might help you feel more centered and empowered.

Clinton's also gotten some freedom from the scrutiny of the campaign, which has likely helped her be more chill too. She's been pretty aggressively giving gender norms the bird for the past few weeks with her defiant lack of makeup in public. As someone who personally only wears makeup about twice a month and puts effort into her hair about once a month, I can't imagine how annoying it would be to have been perfectly painted and coiffed every day for the last two years. It seems Clinton has at least found the silver lining in this mess and realized she never has to wear makeup again in her life if she doesn't want to. Releasing yourself from some restrictive social expectations, whether it be wearing makeup, doing your hair, or wearing a bra, might produce the same effect, and seems worth a shot just for kicks.

Chillary Clinton is a role model in a lot of ways, and you might want to follow her example on being calm after the election. But if you're still too mad to be calm, that's cool too. You can be chill Clinton or campaign fighter Clinton, whatever you need to be. What's most important right now is self-care in whatever way that means for you, but you can still find inspiration from Clinton however you choose to go.