I Am XXY And Am Posting Because This Is So Validating.

Thinking scenes from the film Crimson Peak

[muttering feverishly] I need to chase that man around my gothic manor in a silk nightgown

This is how it was for me too. I sacrificed my family, health and personal life for years. Then COVID hit and I found out that the company did not prioritize me in the same way that I did them. I crafted my exit plan then and was retired within a few years.

It took me most of a year to relieve my body of the work stress and loosen my joints that were in a permanent state of hunched over a computer.

Now in my second year of retirement, I have started going to the gym and taking classes. There was never time for that before. There was always a crisis.

Sometimes we must blur the world to endure it.

I am XXY.

So demoralizing.

Here is the full version of my profile image. Taken a few months ago while in India.

The next few weeks are going to be hard for many of us in the US. The new regime is going to come out of the gate in full attack mode. The LGBTQ community, people of color, immigrants, women, the poor and even our (already broken) health industry are going to be targeted.

This is an attempt to exhaust us with a game of civil rights whack-a-mole, and there is no doubt that some of us are going to feel absolutely wrecked every time we look at the news.

Here is my advice on surviving the next four years

Limit your exposure to the news, it's fine to check the headlines, but

Order a big roll of postcard stamps from the USPS and buy some cheap, blank, postcards.

Sending physical mail can be more effective than signing online petitions, and it has the added benefit of getting you away from the computer. I personally prefer writing postcards because it feels more like I am taking tangible, physical action.

If you are especially organized, you can pre-print address labels for your representatives. I am 100% not that organized.

The ACLU has a guide on what to say here: https://www.aclu.org/writing-your-elected-representatives

Most importantly, don't fall into despair. You are not alone in this, there are millions of us out here who want to see a kinder world.

We've got your back.

film diary - ✰ 8/? howl's moving castle (2004) dir. hayao miyazaki

knowing you'd be there gave me the courage to show up. that woman terrifies me. i can't face her on my own. you saved me, sophie. i was in big trouble back there.

TILDA SWINTON Tim Walker ph. for W magazine (2023)