Tonic for a patriot’s heartache

I've been depressed and burnt out recently, and I've come to a few realizations.

Activism is a process full of grief. We're trying to change things despite the masses burying our home with their own hands. It's a hard feeling. So many people are dying, hurting... and we can't save everyone. But whenever you can't do nothing, and there's nothing you can do... you do what you can.

Take the time to vent, and cry, and express your emotions. We are living in a dictatorship, and we remember what it was like before. MAGA is inflicting mental torture. And the first rule of surviving torture is forgetting about what was. There is no past. Focus on the present. This is our reality now. Emotions don't go away even if you ignore or repress them.

I'm a patriot. I love America, and by that I mean the people, our culture, our home. I've lived and loved here. And that is why I fight so hard to protect it. On that note, all of you are amazing fighters, but you are still human first. No one is meant to take on the burdens of the world alone.

Our opponents seek to break us apart from the inside. They want to wear us down, to render us numb. But we still care, and the price for that is pain. Still... know that despite the uncertainty, the desperation of the tyrants at the top trying to destroy us and everything our country stands for... we are here. We are here together, and we won't go down without a fight.

Try to take smaller steps first. Get off the net, and for heaven's sake, don't doomscroll. Take a day off from the signal and discord. Go outside. See what's affecting you locally. Start with helping your neighbors. You can't save the world if you can't even save those you know, and you can't save anyone until you save yourselves.

And... that's all for now, I suppose. I don't know where I was going with this, but I've been listening to the same song on loop for the past hour and my heart feels heavy. I love you all.

From our friend, Lollie