Whelmed +

In other words, there’s too much going and gone bad in the daily world for me to feel capable of scratching the surface, on any given Sunday. So I tend to write about other things, or I find myself telling what I have to say slant. I just learned that a writer I love died […]

No matter what,

I feel so fortunate to have an ecosystem (comprised of body/mind/mostly anonymous microorganisms/various systems/energy/intangible &c.) that’s often so attuned to the outpouring of art in all its glory. For once YouTube did me really right, tonight: It called up a suddenly-beloved-though-until-just-now-new-to-me video, Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman.” It seems the algorithm rewarded me for fucking around […]

Rewriting Our Roles in this World

Awhile back, I was told about this method of general self-motivation I’ll call The Three. Since I’m a real introvert, and I have depressive and anxious tendencies (and probably fit the borderline personality criteria perfectly), I can struggle sometimes to accomplish well nigh anything. For folks like me, there are absolutely days when getting out […]

Doing YOUR Right Thing.

Good morning, human hearts. I haven’t posted for a long time, because there’s been TOO MUCH going on in the world lately. I simply have not been able to both keep pace and respond responsibly. Sometimes it’s important to step back from the pulpit, the stage, or the soapbox to absorb happenings–it’s important for me, […]

How to Honor Our Own: Kamilah Aisha Moon

This era in the world is marked by loss. Humankind’s effect on the environment has created an ongoing mass extinction event the scope of which is impossible for us to fully grasp. On top of that, the worldwide effects of COVID-19 have devastated us all. At some moments, it seems that everything and everyone has […]

Every Day a New Day

I think a lot about goodness, and what can possibly make an everyday person “good” in these raging, discourteous days. The central quality I return to again and again, as perhaps the essence of “goodness,” is empathy. Empathy may be the most difficult virtue to cultivate; nevertheless, I believe it’s the only possible path to […]

We can’t keep going on like this.

The Unbearable Whiteness of Being, Part II

Let’s be honest with ourselves about ourselves, America. For a very long time, many of us United States citizens gallumphed through life with a certain grinning arrogance. Contemporary Don Quixotes, we donned relentless positivity like custom suits of tinfoil armor. As tourists, we were known abroad for our loud cheer: a skin-deep friendliness completely detached […]

Featured

The Unbearable Whiteness of Being, Part I

We are comfortably rooted in autumn now—only a wind away from winter. On late walks, we smile at those flames that still ripple above our heads, but the leaves beneath our feet undeniably crinkle and crunch. The year has stolen itself away—but its end seems welcome to all, tired as we are. So tired of […]

Pain // Power // Protest II

Celebrity deaths tend to be straightforward news for me, easy enough to accept, even when I’m an admirer of the star in question. What ends befall the famous rarely wound or trouble me much at all. When someone I admire disappears from this life, my internal monologue peacefully rambles: A person succeeded, impacted, inspired, created […]