Auuugh
update 12 Feb 2025
by Carl Bettis
I've been lax about posting here, haven't I? Partly that's because I can only update this blog from my laptop, not from a phone or tablet. I've thought about replacing the current blog with something I can manage on the go, but it seems like a good time to move slowly and make things.
I won't pretend I have a handle on living through these awful times. Every day, my anxiety cruises at 60,000 feet. I routinely wake up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. My stomach is never settled.
I don't have it figured out, but here's what I'm trying:
Limit how often I check the news.
I know the news is a continuous torrent of chaos. Ideally I'd only look at the headlines once a day, but in practice it's two or three times. I try not to check news in the evening. There's nothing I can do until the next day, except ruin my sleep even more.
Take care of myself physically.
Shower. Exercise. Floss. Use my CPAP. Limit consumption of alcohol and junk food.
Strengthen my real-life social network.
Reach out periodically to friends and family, just to check in. Get together with people. I've even gone to church, once, and might do it again! (Society of Friends, a/k/a Quakers. Very active on issues of social justice.)
Practice resistance every day.
Do something, even if it's small. Call a senator, for instance. I live in a red state, so calls to my senators probably don't move the needle. I tell myself, though, that if I do 83 things and 82 of them make no difference, but one does, then I've made a difference. A couple of days ago I joined a protest. It changed no policies and probably changed no minds, but it energized me, it made me feel less alone, and it helped build community among the resistance locally.
Focus my active concern on a couple of chosen issues.
I can't respond to everything without going to pieces. Overwhelming us is a strategy. Every front in the battle needs some people, but not all the people.
Create something every day.
I usually write poetry, sometimes make visual art, sometimes do both. It doesn't have to be political. Every creative act is an an act of resistance. Imagination is freedom, and fascism hates that. If art isn't your thing, there are other kinds of creativity. Gardening, cooking, writing a letter (email or physical), rearranging a room.
Make time for pleasure and fun.
Listen to music. Play a game. Read a book. Take a walk. Throw the ball for the dog. If life holds no joy, what are we fighting for?
