it’s a struggle to try and stay positive (read: not fall into a deep pit of despair and general hopelessness) throughout all of this. i work in a public library in a purple state that has thankfully yet to see massive pushback from organizations trying to censor resources in public and school libraries, but that may change at any moment. i don’t know if the federal funding freeze will have any impact on public library funding and what that means for me going forward. more importantly, what that would mean for the people who rely on the library. it’s too easy to get sucked into just… general malaise about our current situation.
it certainly doesn’t help that i’ve been sick with the flu for the past three days either.
i recently read anxious people by fredrik backman for a book club i facilitate at my library and there’s a passage towards the end that i haven’t been able to stop thinking about since i finished the book:
“The truth. There isn't any. All we've managed to find out about the boundaries of the universe is that it hasn't got any, and all we know about God is that we don't know anything. So the only thing a mom who was a priest demanded of her family was simple: that we do our best.
We plant an apple tree today, even if we know the world is going to be destroyed tomorrow.”
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seconding looking into anarchism and smaller community/forms of government for alternatives of what could be, and socialist history to see the types of great governments the US has squandered intentionally to push the "capitalism is natural" narrative... HOWEVER, these are tools for collective action and dreams to reshape our unfixable broken system. great knowledge but not great for keeping yourself mentally healthy.
stay or get involved if you can with political groups in your area, however I find it beneficial as an american to stop looking at our government as a whole. especially in rural america it gets easier to remember that our local governments, despite being controlled by the big wigs, are more influential to our lives and something we can directly change. we can also touch people close to us, rather than focusing nationwide or globally. in these times it's best to build communities to resist any oppressive change that comes onto us the best we can, sure - but to also cherish the great silver linings we have with each other in the midst of all the chaos.
it's okay to turn off your TV and hang with friends and do/find personal hobbies for a bit. it's okay to also not feel okay with the state of things. it is irredeemably and preventably bad, and it's okay to be mad about the tough times ahead. but it's likely we have a lifetime ahead of us still. so if you're lucky enough to find joy in it, do so like there's no tomorrow - even though I assure you there likely will be.
I wish I could be hopeful too but I think it's a tall order to ask when a lot of preventable problems are being caused and perpetuated on a wide scale. and I do think its a little subjective and based on a gamble of the future. can we have hope if things change radically? for sure, in some ways. can we have hope if things continue without change? not really. not for me or my family, and not for kids growing up now. but even though oppression is barreling down on me and my loved ones personally, I'm taking it as a challenge to be loud and proud and remind everyone they can't pretend I'm not here and human. I hope you feel inspired to do the same.
stay safe friend you are so so important and I mean it!!! if you have access to even one therapy session a month I highly recommend it just to get these worries out.
Apr 6, 2025
I’m not gonna lie. Things are bad right now. We’re disconnected from one another and it has fostered a hyper-individualism that borders on solipsism.
Ignorance, greed, and aggression are in good supply but they are also not new. There have always been people who’ve caused harm, but don’t let those people be the only ones who capture your attention and imagination.
There are people taking action every day in both big and small ways. There are people protesting, and fighting legal battles, and driving people to get safe abortions. And there are people who show tenderness to their children when they received none; people who check in on their elderly neighbor; people who give water, food, or money to an unhoused neighbor in need.
There is kindness all around us and it’s happening all the time. Don’t lose sight of it and, most importantly, don’t lose hope. Another world is possible.
Art via Landon Sheely
Mar 24, 2025
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It's easy to watch the bleak horizon, fill your eyes and ears with promises of a grim future, and be fixated on foreboding cultural, social, political likelihoods to the point of being frozen and immobile.
Often—at least this has been the case for me—that fixation on the fear of the future takes me away from possibilities for impact right in front of me. There's need and possibility and hope in my day right now: today I can help one person or do one life-giving deed or affirm kindness in some small way.
One of the 20th century's most impactful warriors against poverty was Mother Teresa. She said: "Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you."
We (you, me, us) are incredibly powerful.
Don't surrender that power by forsaking the now.
Jan 27, 2025
Top Recs from @eiza
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libraries are genuinely so cool like can you imagine the government creating public libraries today?????? no! they fucking hate the idea of public goods and services that people can access for FREE
Feb 6, 2025
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bring back bedtime stories!!!!!!
Feb 4, 2025
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those LED headlights EVILLLLL i feel like i’m being forcibly sent into another dimension every time a car with bright ass headlights drives towards me
Feb 8, 2025