I’ve already said this on BlueSky, using fewer words, but I want to say it again here, not because I think this has more reach, but because it’s longer-lasting and gives me more room for nuance.
Things are rough, almost certainly getting rougher. Here’s what I’m clinging to:
- Smart, empathetic people have pointed out that our systems of oppression and environmental harm are all woven together in one big, awful cloth.
- They’ve also pointed out that people who want a good, decent, livable world outnumber those who don’t.
My goal, and I hope also yours, is to pick a thread from that cloth—ANY thread —and pull, as hard as we each sustainably can. If we show up consistently (or probably even inconsistently), doing literally anything to make our world better, we can minimize harm (maybe even make progress!) in the coming years.
A little action by a lot of people becomes a lot of action.
Do what you can without burning yourself out. Pick your thing, or glom onto a thing someone you trust has picked. You can also try out multiple things, to see which ones fit.
If you already know what your thing is (or your set of smaller things), I invite you to share it on your own social media channels and in the comments here* so others can get ideas. Even if it’s small—ESPECIALLY if it’s small—let’s inspire each other.
Mine are all small things, by necessity, because just staying alive and employed as a disabled, not–entirely–neurotypical, [other identities redacted] person in the world in which we find ourselves is exhausting. And you know what? Doing all the work to continue thriving, or at least surviving, also counts as “a thing” worthy of listing! So here’s my list:
- staying alive, damn it
- wearing a reusable respirator when I leave my house
- learning American Sign Language
- contributing small monthly donations to environmental, mostly bird protection, causes
- planting native plants in my yard (and maybe other places, who can say? but if I were doing that, I would buy seeds from my local botanical gardens, Audubon, and/or Extension)
- learning about and advocating for digital accessibility during my working hours
- resisting AI wherever I can get away with it
Nothing on that list is overwhelming or especially impressive. But if we all have a similar list, each with a different set of foci, imagine how much of a difference we can make!
* A note about the comments: I get so many spam messages from my site that my email has decided my site is only good for spam. So I’m very slow to notice when a new comment comes in. I apologize, and I will try to pay more attention.
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