Overcoming Phone Call Anxiety to Make Change

Raise your hand if you hate making phone calls. 

I’m supposed to call my Reps and Senators now. 

Tell them how I feel about what’s happening in Minneapolis.  

Tell them to defund ICE.

It’s the least I can do. 

But I hate phone calls. I get nervous and tongue-tied.

You don’t talk to anyone, Kath.  You just leave a voicemail.

It’s easy.

There’s an app. 

5Calls.org

Okay, okay. So I downloaded the app. 

But before I made my call, I snooped around.

I entered my ZIP code, and the names of my Rep and my 2 Senators popped up. 

Unfortunately, one of my Senators is Fetterman, who has completely lost his mind and has been voting with the Republicans.  If I were going to call anyone ahead of today’s defunding vote, it would be him.  Get your head out of your ass, Fetterman.

But I was still feeling timid, even though the app provided a script I could simply read into my phone.  And to be honest, all they do when you call is tabulate FOR or AGAINST the issue. They know you’re reading a script. They don’t care why you feel the way you do.

But before I called, I stalled some more by exploring more links on the homepage. I hit this one:

Now, this was interesting!

It showed me that Fetterman has gotten 12,751 calls so far on the Defund ICE issue. I felt cheered by that number, and this really inspired me to add my own call to that list.

There was also a graphic from last week. All the blue dots represent the calls to Defund ICE. The gray ones represent calls on other issues.

Look at all those blue dots!

So, armed with this visual and the social proof that I was not the only one who cared deeply about this, I opened my laptop screen to the script. and made my call.

I didn’t want to parrot the script, so I gave my name, email, and phone number, then summarized the main points from the script and said that in the voicemail. 

Then, because I couldn’t resist, I reminded Fetterman that he needed to vote with the Democrats on this one, and not go rogue. I told him I thought he had lost his mind.

I didn’t say fuckin mind, but that was, of course, implied.

Emboldened by this first call, I teed up McCormick next, my other Senator, and then my Rep Glenn Thompson, and did the same thing. 

When I was finished, I felt better. Much better. Calmer. Not as ragey.

I didn’t think making those calls would make a difference, but it did.  Taking action does relieve anxiety. 

And now I call every day because I need rage control. I need something to DO instead of having I fucking hate you rage convos in my head. Because, believe it or not, that’s not good for a person.

I know it because my nervous system has been completely fried since the murder of Alex Pretti. I couldn’t even go to my beloved yoga class on Monday because I was such a mess. My cup was completely empty. I had nothing to give. But more than that, I was afraid of spilling toxic waste on them. 

Let me be perfectly clear. I still hate making phone calls. I hate it so much that I had convinced myself that calling didn’t make a difference.

But it did. Maybe not to John Fetterman, but to me.

Doing something, even just one measly phone call, relieves anxiety and tempers rage. 

I checked the call counter after I called, just to see if my call would show up in the count, and it did! The count ticked up one more, and I assume I was also added as another blue dot.

What I am hoping by writing about this is that you will at least go to 5 Calls and look around. Type in your zip code and see what’s going on with your Senators and Representatives. See what the top 5 issues they’re getting calls about. You can also hit the National tab and see what’s going on nationally.  

I think it will embolden you to make a call.

I know it will quiet your rage and anxiety a little and soothe your nervous system. 

Let me know if you try it.

Namaste,

Kath