Election day is coming up in America.  While most people already have a voting plan in place, do you also have a soul care plan? In this solo episode, Ed Cyzewski talks about the sources of our anxiety and stress at this time,  the ways media can feed anxiety and stress, and some soul care ideas to help you stay grounded throughout election day and the uncertain days that will follow. 

Catherine McNeil is the author of All Shall Be Well and Long Days of Small Things. She shares how parenthood helped her seek spiritual practices throughout each day, despite many interruptions, and how living with an awareness of seasons changing offers a more sustainable rhythm than the quick fix of social media. Connect with her at www.catherinemcniel.com. 

Find additional ideas for spiritual restoration in Ed's book Reconnect: Spiritual Restoration from Digital Distraction. https://amzn.to/3oyda7S

Elizabeth Maxon is the author of Begin and Wonderland and hosts the Breathing Room, an online community for women who engage in spiritual practices every week together. In our interview we talk about the challenges of using social media, how connecting over video has been life-giving, and some simple boundaries and practices to increase your intention when using social media and making space for daily prayer.   Learn more at https://breathingroom.life/.

Shawn Smucker is the author of These Nameless Things, The Day the Angels Fell, and Light from Distant Stars. He is the co-host of The Stories Between us with his wife Maile, sharing their journeys as writers together. Learn more at www.shawnsmucker.com.

Pastor and author Steve Wiens shares about his book Shining Like the Sun and the spiritual practices that guide him. As a pastor in Minneapolis, Wiens has been involved in activism for justice and equality alongside fellow clergy in his community. Wiens also shares about the challenges of pastoring people at a time of quarantine during the Coronavirus outbreak. 

Podcast host, author, and spiritual director Lisa Delay shares how she uses social media to share her work while remaining aware of the many challenges of empty virtue signaling for social media. Lisa discusses how she places boundaries around her use to guard her soul and how spiritual practices bring renewal each day. www.lisadelay.com

Marlena Graves (@MarlenaGraves), author of A Beautiful Disaster and The Way Up Is Down, shares her approach to social media, viewing Twitter as a kind of cafeteria where she replies to people the same way she would speak with them in person. She also shares how she posts on social media based on her experiences and expertise while elevating the voices of experts and others who have wisdom to share.

Seth Haines (@sethhaines), the author of Coming Clean and the Book of Waking Up, shares with Ed Cyzewski about the ways he uses social media, the limits he places on his technology use, and the practices that express his creativity and restore his soul.