America Is Self-Destructing But We Don’t Have To

No words.

That’s the phrase I keep seeing today from friends waking up to the news. Not that any of us slept much. 

The limits of language can’t express the depth of the horror we now face. The rusty-nail piercing in our hearts has no name. No words.

Well, maybe I’ve got a few: Disgusted, disappointed, depressed. 

The coming weeks will bring others: Dictatorship. Dismantling. Disaster. (I self-soothe with alliteration, sorry not sorry.)

Half the country has betrayed women, immigrants, LBGT+ folk, schools, our precious rivers and air, our Constitution. We will all suffer the consequences of their choice. We know what is coming. We are not OK.

But we have each other, and that’s something. In fact, it is everything.

The sagacious Tom Kohler opined to me recently that people seem to have abandoned the notion of community for the drama of politics in the last few years. Community nourishes us; politics, while necessary, distracts our time and energy away from our actual lives. Now that our worst nightmare has come to pass, let us return to the quiet solace of supporting our friends, tending to our children, honoring our elders, and gathering in the name of art, music, joy and love.

No question, we are in for a terrible time. Our survival depends on our ability to keep the faith—no, not in the cowardly assholes who chose hate and bigotry, they’re trash—but in ourselves. We must remember and remind those who forget that we are not alone—even it seems we’ve lost our faith in everyone we know.

Widespread Panic tells it:

The bravest thing we can do right now is not falter. America is self-destructing but we don’t have to. 

It might be tomorrow, or next week—hell let’s toss the rest of the year in the dumpster—but eventually we will recover. Regroup. Reaffirm our fight for liberty and justice for all.  

Today, however, is for radical self-care. Snarf the whole box of donuts, take a long nap with the dogs, smash old plates against the fence while blaring death metal (locally-sourced, of course.) 

Just don’t hurt yourself or someone else, and try not to get thrown in jail. Also, probably not a great day to get a new tattoo.

You definitely should not set fire to the MAGA flag in front of the carriage house down the street. Though I may have screamed “HEY WAKE UP! FUCK OFF! YES, YOU! FUCK YOU!” under their window at 7am this morning and let the dogs shit in their yard.

Honestly though, I can’t stand the taste of bile for very long. There’s just too much nourishment in our community and too much work to do. Remember to breathe and hydrate as we brace for what comes next and find the words that bring us forward.

I will not succumb to despair and will do whatever I can to make sure you don’t either. Let us keep faith in our humanity and protect each others’ tender hearts.  

But I still might need to count on y’all for bail money.

Must grab each others collar, must rise out of the water ~ JLL

Actually, Donut ate the whole box of donuts