We'll Be Here
I won't tell you how to feel.
Today.
Or any day these next 4 years.
Because doing so would invalidate your own existence.
These last two months have been a lot for our community. Some have chosen to step away entirely. Others have cut back, visiting us less and less frequently. Others still have suddenly needed community and have decided to step out of the shadows and into our daily conversations. Each of us has had to weigh how to engage those closest to us who voted for The Thing. We've had to reevaluate how, and even if, we engage on social media and which platforms to use. We've already had to pick our battles. Do we keep fighting disinformation? Do we keep calling out the blatant hypocrisy on the right? Do we keep our subscription to the news outlet that suddenly calls Joe Biden a monster? All of this is unprecedented. All of this yields no simple answer.
This is why today of all days is one where it is up to each and every one of us to be true to ourselves. Some of us will need to watch the inauguration to understand the history that is unfolding. Others will need to not watch live but watch highlights later on. Others are at the point where they can't stand his voice and would rather view some snippets from social media later on. Others will need to step away entirely, avoiding the event itself and all subsequent media coverage. There is no wrong way to think about today. Or tomorrow. Or next month. This is a war of attrition and self-care is at the forefront of this battle. Our opponents want to flood the zone and get us exasperated at their villainy. We must pick our battles and we must do so in a way that prioritizes our own personal mental health.
For those that need a safe space today, we'll be here. For those that need to step away and come back tomorrow, we'll be here. For those that need a few days or even a couple of weeks, we'll be here. As LL has said, we won't be chronicling every dastardly deed these next four years. We are a politics blog and politics will still play a central role in the blog's existence. We'll continue having guest poets and writers and hearing about a talking crab and serial killers. I'll do my best to try and uplift some positivity in the political world, including initiatives passed at the local and state level as well as history-making elected officials being the first (and hopefully not the last) of their ilk to enter public service. These next four years may feel like it, but I can assure you it won't be completely doom and gloom. We have local and statewide elections to win, starting in 2025 with Virginia and New Jersey. We have the midterms where flipping a mere 3 seats stalls out the GOP agenda. It will get worse before it gets better but we are still a democracy last time I checked.
We will get through this. Today is our winter solstice where we are at our darkest. But the darkness will gradually give way and the light will break through. We are a nation founded on hope and reaffirmed on the ideals of working toward a more perfect union. We aren't there. We've taken a huge step back this past decade. Yet the work continues. It has to continue. Because if it doesn't then what did all our foremothers and fathers fight and die for? Were there not equally challenging times in their lives? We are simply living in the latest iteration of their struggle. We're on their shoulders. And when our children and grandchildren ask us what we did, we will tell them that we fought and did what we could in a way that kept us safe and sane in what in many ways felt like an insane world.
A fight that was only possible because we took the time and space when we needed it.
Because doing so would invalidate your own existence.
These last two months have been a lot for our community. Some have chosen to step away entirely. Others have cut back, visiting us less and less frequently. Others still have suddenly needed community and have decided to step out of the shadows and into our daily conversations. Each of us has had to weigh how to engage those closest to us who voted for The Thing. We've had to reevaluate how, and even if, we engage on social media and which platforms to use. We've already had to pick our battles. Do we keep fighting disinformation? Do we keep calling out the blatant hypocrisy on the right? Do we keep our subscription to the news outlet that suddenly calls Joe Biden a monster? All of this is unprecedented. All of this yields no simple answer.
This is why today of all days is one where it is up to each and every one of us to be true to ourselves. Some of us will need to watch the inauguration to understand the history that is unfolding. Others will need to not watch live but watch highlights later on. Others are at the point where they can't stand his voice and would rather view some snippets from social media later on. Others will need to step away entirely, avoiding the event itself and all subsequent media coverage. There is no wrong way to think about today. Or tomorrow. Or next month. This is a war of attrition and self-care is at the forefront of this battle. Our opponents want to flood the zone and get us exasperated at their villainy. We must pick our battles and we must do so in a way that prioritizes our own personal mental health.
For those that need a safe space today, we'll be here. For those that need to step away and come back tomorrow, we'll be here. For those that need a few days or even a couple of weeks, we'll be here. As LL has said, we won't be chronicling every dastardly deed these next four years. We are a politics blog and politics will still play a central role in the blog's existence. We'll continue having guest poets and writers and hearing about a talking crab and serial killers. I'll do my best to try and uplift some positivity in the political world, including initiatives passed at the local and state level as well as history-making elected officials being the first (and hopefully not the last) of their ilk to enter public service. These next four years may feel like it, but I can assure you it won't be completely doom and gloom. We have local and statewide elections to win, starting in 2025 with Virginia and New Jersey. We have the midterms where flipping a mere 3 seats stalls out the GOP agenda. It will get worse before it gets better but we are still a democracy last time I checked.
We will get through this. Today is our winter solstice where we are at our darkest. But the darkness will gradually give way and the light will break through. We are a nation founded on hope and reaffirmed on the ideals of working toward a more perfect union. We aren't there. We've taken a huge step back this past decade. Yet the work continues. It has to continue. Because if it doesn't then what did all our foremothers and fathers fight and die for? Were there not equally challenging times in their lives? We are simply living in the latest iteration of their struggle. We're on their shoulders. And when our children and grandchildren ask us what we did, we will tell them that we fought and did what we could in a way that kept us safe and sane in what in many ways felt like an insane world.
A fight that was only possible because we took the time and space when we needed it.