I visited my brother and sister in law last weekend, and my 11 month old niece cried when I left. (Which, not to say I'm happy that she was sad, but she's not talking yet but I know she loves me. If you know more about human development and what babies know/remember, don't you DARE tell me I'm wrong, lol)
Anyway, love is what's keeping me going. And of course, love means danger too--that whole "hostages to fortune" thing--but it can also give you the joy you need to get you through the day. It can also give you the fuel you need to not give in to despair but to keep fighting for a better future. What should you be doing to fight and how should you be fighting? I'm not an expert on that, but I bet if you look you'll find some kind of organization in your area that would love your help. Will that actually make a difference? I don't know if it will make big changes, like with climate change etc, but it can definitely make little changes, like giving an unhoused person a safe place to sleep at night and that is a difference that is worth making.
I realize I might be talking to some lonely souls out there, so I just want to give some words of unironic encouragement for a minute (I've been a big sister practically my entire life, mothering people is in my blood and I can't help myself.) You are not the only person in your sphere who is lonely and feeling stressed by the realities of life these days. Consider being the one to reach out, even if it's hard. I bet people will be happy to hear from you. If you've burned some bridges and would like to make amends, reach out and give it a try. People are looking for a little joy in their lives right now, and so now is a good time to heal broken relationships.
I am not the best at keeping in touch with people if I'm not seeing them in person regularly--I'm definitely more of a face-to-face person. So I have regularly scheduled video calls with people. Having a schedule in place eliminates the problem of saying "we should get in touch some time," then some time never comes. One of them is a weekly book club with some friends. Some nights we barely talk about the book, and there's no pressure if you're behind on the reading. It's purely a coping mechanism for living with covid restrictions so the book is more of an excuse to meet regularly than anything else. I also asked some friends to start meeting with me twice a week to go for walks around our city. We pick a different park or whatever to walk in, catch up, and get some fresh air. These friends were eager to have something like that to do, all it took was for someone to make the suggestion and, crucially, go ahead and schedule the first one right away so "some time" doesn't slip into "never actually."
I visited my brother and sister in law last weekend, and my 11 month old niece cried when I left. (Which, not to say I'm happy that she was sad, but she's not talking yet but I know she loves me. If you know more about human development and what babies know/remember, don't you DARE tell me I'm wrong, lol)
Anyway, love is what's keeping me going. And of course, love means danger too--that whole "hostages to fortune" thing--but it can also give you the joy you need to get you through the day. It can also give you the fuel you need to not give in to despair but to keep fighting for a better future. What should you be doing to fight and how should you be fighting? I'm not an expert on that, but I bet if you look you'll find some kind of organization in your area that would love your help. Will that actually make a difference? I don't know if it will make big changes, like with climate change etc, but it can definitely make little changes, like giving an unhoused person a safe place to sleep at night and that is a difference that is worth making.
I realize I might be talking to some lonely souls out there, so I just want to give some words of unironic encouragement for a minute (I've been a big sister practically my entire life, mothering people is in my blood and I can't help myself.) You are not the only person in your sphere who is lonely and feeling stressed by the realities of life these days. Consider being the one to reach out, even if it's hard. I bet people will be happy to hear from you. If you've burned some bridges and would like to make amends, reach out and give it a try. People are looking for a little joy in their lives right now, and so now is a good time to heal broken relationships.
I am not the best at keeping in touch with people if I'm not seeing them in person regularly--I'm definitely more of a face-to-face person. So I have regularly scheduled video calls with people. Having a schedule in place eliminates the problem of saying "we should get in touch some time," then some time never comes. One of them is a weekly book club with some friends. Some nights we barely talk about the book, and there's no pressure if you're behind on the reading. It's purely a coping mechanism for living with covid restrictions so the book is more of an excuse to meet regularly than anything else. I also asked some friends to start meeting with me twice a week to go for walks around our city. We pick a different park or whatever to walk in, catch up, and get some fresh air. These friends were eager to have something like that to do, all it took was for someone to make the suggestion and, crucially, go ahead and schedule the first one right away so "some time" doesn't slip into "never actually."