For Anyone Who Needs To Hear This (myself Very Much Included). You Are Worth It.

For anyone who needs to hear this (myself very much included). You are worth it.

This is your reminder that every breath you take under a system that wants you dead is an act of defiance. If you are a woman, trans, black, brown, indigenous, AAPI, two spirit, Jewish, Muslim, disabled, poor, gay, an immigrant, or any combination of those groups or other marginalized groups I'm forgetting to mention, every piece of joy and peace you find in a country that will not protect you is revolutionary.

Give yourself time and space for your anger, channel it into donating or volunteering or even just supporting vulnerable individuals in your communities. But also give yourself time and space for joy, to take a deep breath. Take care of yourself. Brush your teeth, take a shower, eat, take your meds, check in with yourself. Honor your culture in some way, pray to your ancestors or to your deities, make cultural art, or comfort food. Go get a tattoo, or a piercing, or dye your hair. Find ways to remind yourself of your power, wherever you may draw it from. Turn off the news, at least for an hour or two. Watch a few episodes of a stupid TV show. Watch something that will make you laugh. Read a few chapters in your favorite book. Take a walk. Literally smell some roses. Anything that will give you strength to keep going, anything that will give you any small spark of hope or joy.

Activism is important. Getting in the streets is important. Donating to abortion funds is important. But you will not have the energy to do those things effectively if you do not give yourself grace. If you do not honor your emotions and the time you need to feel them. Constant exposure to stress is not healthy for anyone. Don't burn yourselves out, try to find a balance that works for you.

You are spiting the system by simply keeping yourself alive. So make that your priority first. Get your strength up, get your head straight, if you can. We need you at top condition (whatever that means for you) for what's to come. We need everyone.