My wife and I are struggling with this tension, and have a community with whom we cab talk about the stresses. It's hard, and we are trying to be sure to celebrate joys and play as well as showing up and responding. Every person I interact with feels the difference, although some are just pushing it aside. Savor time, summer or no, and notice the seasons of life still. We are not alone now, or in history.
So glad to be in your (online) community! 💙 Being together is validating, solidifying. And in a world that feels very topsy-turvy, having some solid ground is a welcome thing, indeed. And I completely agree – history's refrain is the struggle between freedom and fascism. We are singing the chorus.
This article from The Guardian expresses the cognitive dissonance you are writing about Michelle.
It definitely resonates with me as I continue knitting, gardening, listening to audiobooks, reading Substack, and organizing weekly rallies at our courthouse
Thank you for sharing this, Amelia! I'll take a look. And thank you for organizing those rallies. You're reminding me to get out my knitting needles! 💙
Yes, the constant tension is hovering all around as I go about my day. But I continue to create, write, and live because that is how we remain sane amongst the chaos.
I feel this way all the time. It’s so hard to find a balance between being aware of what’s happening and a responsible consumer of wide sources of media and information with not wanting to scream every minute. I grew up in rural Ohio and lived in Chicago for 35 years with my husband and son. Now my husband and I are living in very red, rural Ohio to be near my elderly mother. My son graduated from college here and is going to graduate school. He says, and I agree, that the people around us who are Republicans and Trmp voters are either stupid and gullible OR the educated, well meaning, intelligent people we know who voted for him are cruel and don’t care about what his policies mean for people who don’t look like them or people who don’t worship like them, etc. He says he is done splitting hairs to excuse them or listening to apologists who insist that “they aren’t like that REALLY”. I have to agree. I hate to come to terms with the fact that people I’ve known for years really are like that, but the evidence is inescapable. We see no signs of “Trmp regret voters” here. Even as things start to affect farmers and businesses personally here, people just double down to blame anything but their choices and anyone but Trmp. It’s exhausting to be surrounded by the cognitive dissonance all the time.
Yeah, I felt the same during the 4 years of far-right extremist president Bolsonaro in Brazil. I live in a state that is a cluster of "bolsonarists", our version of MAGA. The worst part was the ineffectiveness of the progressives. The far-right extremists led the narrative and the discourse most of the time. What troubles me most is how the far-right is using the same model in every country, and it's evolving continually. They are very organized globally.
"Fascism" is the catch-all bogeyman for leftoids, their version of the Right's "It's the Jews!" (only the Right is closer to the truth.) There are zero "official" fascists in Shitgress but Fraudsident biden's Cabinet could've been its own synagogue.
My wife and I are struggling with this tension, and have a community with whom we cab talk about the stresses. It's hard, and we are trying to be sure to celebrate joys and play as well as showing up and responding. Every person I interact with feels the difference, although some are just pushing it aside. Savor time, summer or no, and notice the seasons of life still. We are not alone now, or in history.
So glad to be in your (online) community! 💙 Being together is validating, solidifying. And in a world that feels very topsy-turvy, having some solid ground is a welcome thing, indeed. And I completely agree – history's refrain is the struggle between freedom and fascism. We are singing the chorus.
I look forward to your weekly words here. Your voice is warm and true. Thank you.
Oh, thank you, Peg! It is so kind of you to say so. You’ve made my morning. 💙
This article from The Guardian expresses the cognitive dissonance you are writing about Michelle.
It definitely resonates with me as I continue knitting, gardening, listening to audiobooks, reading Substack, and organizing weekly rallies at our courthouse
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/ng-interactive/2025/may/22/hypernormalization-dysfunction-status-quo?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Thank you for sharing this, Amelia! I'll take a look. And thank you for organizing those rallies. You're reminding me to get out my knitting needles! 💙
Yes, the constant tension is hovering all around as I go about my day. But I continue to create, write, and live because that is how we remain sane amongst the chaos.
That's it, exactly. Staying true to ourselves amidst the chaos is difficult, but essential. 💙
I feel this way all the time. It’s so hard to find a balance between being aware of what’s happening and a responsible consumer of wide sources of media and information with not wanting to scream every minute. I grew up in rural Ohio and lived in Chicago for 35 years with my husband and son. Now my husband and I are living in very red, rural Ohio to be near my elderly mother. My son graduated from college here and is going to graduate school. He says, and I agree, that the people around us who are Republicans and Trmp voters are either stupid and gullible OR the educated, well meaning, intelligent people we know who voted for him are cruel and don’t care about what his policies mean for people who don’t look like them or people who don’t worship like them, etc. He says he is done splitting hairs to excuse them or listening to apologists who insist that “they aren’t like that REALLY”. I have to agree. I hate to come to terms with the fact that people I’ve known for years really are like that, but the evidence is inescapable. We see no signs of “Trmp regret voters” here. Even as things start to affect farmers and businesses personally here, people just double down to blame anything but their choices and anyone but Trmp. It’s exhausting to be surrounded by the cognitive dissonance all the time.
Beautifully expressed. Thank you
Yeah, I felt the same during the 4 years of far-right extremist president Bolsonaro in Brazil. I live in a state that is a cluster of "bolsonarists", our version of MAGA. The worst part was the ineffectiveness of the progressives. The far-right extremists led the narrative and the discourse most of the time. What troubles me most is how the far-right is using the same model in every country, and it's evolving continually. They are very organized globally.
"Fascism" is the catch-all bogeyman for leftoids, their version of the Right's "It's the Jews!" (only the Right is closer to the truth.) There are zero "official" fascists in Shitgress but Fraudsident biden's Cabinet could've been its own synagogue.
summer and winter are NOUNS
Not VERBS
who do u think u are, Jon Jacob Astor?!
🤣💁💕