#fighting despair

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Vance just did the Natzi pose on live TV and people are excuseing it for autism, trump banned the FDA and hanged(forgot his name) is secretary of defense are you still sure we're gonna get though this ? I just need something to get though these next four(?) years

Hey. Thanks for reaching out. I’ve got two answers for you to your question of ‘are you still sure we’re gonna get through this?’ The short answer and the long.

Short answer: Yes, absolutely.

Long answer: Sort of. Still mostly yes, but I have to be realistic with you that it might not be all of us. The biggest economy in the world is going full petrofascist and the right wing is resurgent globally, the climate and ecological crises are spiralling out of control and many people still lack basic necessities of living. And yet.

I believe firmly and entirely in the power of good people to make a difference. Maybe not enough of one to deeply alter the whole world, but there are a myriad of ways to resist despair and destruction, to build community, to protect the vulnerable and safeguard the future. Things are going to get rough and even with the best efforts of all of us I can’t pretend we’re all going to make it. But I hope most of us do. You must remember that no evils and no empires last forever. Stick around, however hard it is.

I’m planning on doing a bit of an advice post for Turtle Island residents fairly soon, detailing ways of protecting yourself and resisting as much as possible, though admittedly I don’t live there so my talk is cheap. Do check back in for that if you think it would be helpful, and try to also hang on to the fact that there’s a world beyond your borders and progress is happening everywhere all the time. Stay strong.

[simonoliverseville]

“My favorite activity today has been sipping some warm apple cider and contemplating how some people lack any amount of critical thinking skill whatsoever.”

“I’m not going to allow myself to spiral into hopelessness, but I worry about our future as a society if these people continue to remain in power.”

“I’m so sick of people with a “rules apply to you but never to me” mentality.”

[stastrodome]

I was often lost but I could not fall completely out of love with a world that had coffee and bread.

[sakurastarlightdreemurr]

Totally not me reading "Ultra Despair Girls Danganronpa : Another Episode" and redrawing some scenes with Skeff-

⚠️ Spoilers Warning ! ⚠️

Probably gonna drew more lmao

But yeah for now have gay pengus (again) 💚🏳️‍🌈

Skip and Jeff (c) Disney

Penguinronpa (c) Tofudemaru

Danganronpa (c) Hajime Touya

[realsocialskills]

If reading the news is dragging you down into despair

There is a lot of awful news right now. In times like these, it’s important to have strategies for avoiding despair.

One strategy I’ve seen discussed a lot is limiting your exposure to the news. For instance, some people have decided not to read the news at night. This can be a really good strategy for some people — but it doesn’t work well for everyone.

If you keep telling yourself “I should really read the news less”, then reading the news constantly anyway, it may be that you need a different strategy.

For some people, the way to avoid despair involves reading the news *more*, not less. When the headlines are horrifying, it can make it seems like the world is made of horrors. It can take a lot more digging to find out that it is possible to fight the horrors. It can take a lot more digging to learn that some things are good, and that progress is still possible.

For instance, if you’re reading a terrifying news article about vote suppression in the South, find out which organizations are fighting for voting rights. Learn the stories of people who have fought for their right to vote and won. Learn specifics about the battles being fought now, and the people who are fighting them. Knowing this kind of context can help, a lot.

More generally: When you find that despair-inducing news is dragging you down, seek out context that goes beyond the horrors. The horrors are real, and so is everything else.

If all the stories you read are about horrifying policies, opposition can seem imaginary. Make sure you read enough about the opposition to understand that it’s real.

Similarly, wins are as real as losses. If all the stories you read are about losing, winning will seem imaginary. Make sure you also read enough about wins to understand that winning is a real thing.

(It also helps to take partial victories or near-victories seriously.)

Tl;dr When you’re reading a lot of news and feeling a lot of despair, sometimes the solution is to read the news less — and sometimes the solution is to read *more* of the news. When you only read stories about evil, good can seem imaginary. If you also seek out stories about people who fight evil, and about wins as well as losses, it can make it much more clear that goodness exists. For some people, that is the best strategy for avoiding despair in times when a lot of the news is horrifying.

[rollerskatinglizard]

It's been said before, but I'm gonna say it again: despair is paralyzing. If you want to resist and be effective--whether that means calling your reps or doing civil disobedience or just taking care of yourself from day to day, which is an act of subtle but vital defiance all on its own--the first thing you must do is hold on to hope. There is still light, there are still good people working for positive change every day, far below the level of what gets mentioned on the news. Look for hope wherever you can, and keep it close to you, to buoy you up against the fear and despair that can otherwise begin to feel as natural as gravity, dragging you down. Determination and persistence will save us, but we also need resilience, which despair saps away. Keep breathing, do what you can, hold on to each other, and hold on to hope.

[thebonewitch]

Going for a walk. Photographing snails. Baking muffins. Making tea. Playing with my cat. Having a really excellent sandwich.

[johnesimpson]

Entre Chien et Loup

Edward Abbey, Ann Patchett, et al.: 'Entre Chien et Loup'

Entre Chien et Loup

(This post’s title translates literally as, “Between dog and wolf.” Per Erica Berry’s Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear, it “refers to that dawn-or-dusk hour when it becomes hard to tell the difference between a dog and a wolf. That time when you cannot tell if the shadow on the road before you is familiar or strange, if it poses a threat.”) [Image: “Hour of the Wolf,” by John E. Simpson. (Photo shared here under a Creative Commons License; for more information, see this page at RAMH.)]

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