S4E17 Encore of But What Can I Do? (S4E5)

<p>"But what can I do?” This is a question we are getting with greater frequency from our followers, listeners, and viewers. We’re going to try to answer that question…with a little help. </p><p><strong>Learn More</strong></p><p>In this episode of Getting to 3rd Space, we are going to try to answer a question we are getting more frequently from friends, followers, listeners, and viewers: “But what can I do about the situation in our country?” Frankly, we were a bit stuck. So we went to <a href="https://www.perplexity.ai/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Perplexity</a> and asked it this question: <strong>People ask me, about the current social and political situation in the United States, "What can we do?" What can I tell them?</strong></p><p>Here’s a summary of what we learned (and we’ve put a few links below if you want to learn more): </p><p><strong>First, don’t give your power away to despair.</strong> </p><p><strong>Second, shift your focus to where you have real leverage:</strong> <strong>local life. </strong></p><p><strong>Third, invest in relationships.</strong> </p><p><strong>And finally, use the tools we have.</strong> </p><p>Sources:</p><p><a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5671977-2026-political-storms-ahead/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Hill: Several Political Storms Loom on the Horizon in 2026</a></p><p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-bucket-list-for-involved-citizens-76-things-you-can-do-to-boost-civic-engagement/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brookings: The bucket list for involved citizens: 76 things you can do to boost civic engagement</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/SeriousConversation/comments/1k9zscv/what_should_we_be_doing_to_help/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Reddit-Serious Conversation: What should we be doing to help people/communities/ourselves in the current state of the US?</a></p><p><a href="https://crucibleofthought.com/political-predictions-for-the-usa-in-2026/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">A Crucible of Thought: Political Predictions for the USA in 2026</a></p><p><a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_can_we_do_now" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Greater Good Magazine: What Can We Do Now? </a></p><p><a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/473166/forecasts-2026-trump-congress-democrats-musk-artificial-intelligence-hurricanes" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Vox: 26 things we think will happen in 2026</a></p><p><a href="https://shannonwatts.substack.com/p/what-to-do-now-10-actionable-ways" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Playing with Fire: What to do NOW: 10 actionable ways to make a difference during the Trump years</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ksat.com/news/politics/2026/02/04/americans-are-exceptionally-anxious-about-their-political-system-new-gallup-polling-shows/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">KSAT.com: Americans are exceptionally anxious about their political system, new Gallup polling shows </a></p><p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/economic-issues-to-watch-in-2026/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Brookings: Economic Issues to watch in 2026 </a></p><p><strong>A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness</strong></p><p>Kindness seems out of vogue right now. But we don’t believe that to be true. We believe there are a lot of people in our world who are choosing kindness even in the face of cruelty.</p><p>Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link:<a href="https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5</a></p><p>There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:</p><ul><li><p><strong>What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?</strong></p></li><l