The enemy for the fanatic is pleasure, which makes it extremely important to continue to indulge in pleasure. Dance madly. That is how you get rid of terrorism.
(Salmon Rushdie)

Amidst all the reactivity about religion, immigration, and terror, a bit of advice from a man who’s been on a radical Islamist hit list for over 25 years:

Enjoy yourself. Pursue pleasure. Dance madly.

How does this help? At a bare minimum, the pursuit of life’s pleasures at a time like this gets us off the news and back into our real worlds of relationships. At another level, enjoying ourselves in this season of panic sends a powerful message, to ourselves, our kids, and our neighbors:

Terrorism doesn’t work if we refuse to be terrified.

So take a break from your Facebook feed of all things Trump and terror, and have some fun.

Play with your kids.
Watch Elf again.
Have a nice glass of your favorite Chardonnay.
Make passionate love to your significant other.
Play cards, take a walk, tell a joke.

And of course, smile while doing it all.