Look, I get it. The world is a shitshow right now. Or at least it feels that way to those of us who are paying attention. And there are some legit things to worry about. I don’t know what to do about any of it. I don’t know what the right choices are. I don’t know how to solve our various problems. I don’t think anyone does. All we have are our best guesses.
And you know what? That’s all we’ve ever had. I’ve seen so many people commenting that they are tired of living in ‘interesting times.’ They want more ‘precedented events.’ There are a lot of people who ‘just want things to go back to normal.’ And yeah, that would be nice, but I have some bad news for you.
Normal has never existed. There have never been ‘non-interesting times.’ The world has always been a shit-show of one flavor or another, or several at once. I’m not saying things aren’t worse now than they’ve been at other times in the past. For many people they are, and there are plans afoot to make things very hard for people who are not cis white rich Christians. We definitely have work to do.
But we’ve always had work to do. It is normal to idealize the past, but these things have always been happening. If you think there was a time that was much better and easier than it is now, it’s probably because you were too young to be engaged in what was really going on. We’ve always needed all hands on deck. And we’ve fought many of these battles before.
Just in my lifetime, we were still fighting segregation, women have been fighting to be equal under the law, we fought fascism in several countries. Ronald Reagan happened. The two gulf wars. The Clinton era. The constitutional crisis over the 2000 election. September 11th! The financial crisis. Hurricane Katrina. And that is just for starters. So please, tell me about the non-interesting times we need to go back to. They have never existed.
The fight does seem a little more important now. I’ll give you that. But the fight has always been important. We’ve been through so much of this stuff and, here’s the bad news, we’ll go through more of it in the future. We will never get to an ideal society where everything is golden, and we have no problems left to solve. It is not possible. There will probably be important elections in heaven!
I’m not saying not to care, just to have a little perspective. And I say this as one of the people who is on the chopping block. If project 2025 becomes the law of the land. My life will become illegal. I’m not going to stop living it. They’re going to have to kill me (which it seems like they will be super happy to do, so win-win, I guess?). So yes, I’m aware that this is important.
We’ve been in spots like this before, and we prevailed. Not always cleanly, and not always all the way. Some people did not survive. So, yes, I am aware of the costs. But we are not owed a life free of conflict and struggle. The struggle will continue no matter what happens over the next couple of years.
So, what is my point, besides the fact that things have always sucked? That’s not very inspirational of me.
Here’s my point. Take care of yourself. Turn off the news and live your life. Focus on the things you can control. You can control your vote, and how you treat the people in your life. You can control how you treat yourself. Give yourself the strength to get through difficult things, and don’t take on more stress than you absolutely must. And make a life for yourself that allows you to get your needs met, whatever they are.
Absolutely do what you can to stand up for the oppressed, but you’ll do yourself and the world no good if you are constantly exhausted by a cycle of rage and fear. And if you do go down, go down fighting for yourself and the people you love. It’s what I plan to do.
So, I’m planning my vote and my civic activism, but I’m focusing mostly on my work and school and my relationships. That is where I can have the greatest impact. And where I’ll find the most peace.
I want you to stay strong and I want you to find peace along the way. All of this does matter. It has always mattered. We are not exempted from the struggle, but we don’t have to be overcome by it, either.