not okay

Hi.

Today I am not okay.

Today I am scared. I am sad. I am grieving all we’ve lost and all we will lose.

I’m trying to remind myself that I am dangerous. But it’s hard to remember–or rather, it’s hard to feel the truth of that.

But I am. I am dangerous. You are dangerous. We can be dangerous in ways large and small to all that seeks to silence us, to tear apart, to divide, to belittle, to dehumanize. We’re going to see a lot of this. We’re going to need to be as dangerous as we can.

And part of that is taking care of ourselves. So if you’re scared and sad and overwhelmed–if you feel like you are standing on the edge of a precipice and you are actually dizzy even as you’re expected to walk around in the world in your human suit and take care of other humans and do work-things and home-things and being-alive-in-the-world things–if you feel that you’ve hit the bottom but you’re terrifyingly sure that we don’t even yet understand where the bottom really is–know that you are not alone.

Know that if you are scared, it’s because you’re not a fool. Know that if you are sad, it’s because you are not a soulless gremlin. Know that if you are grieving, it’s because you understand what matters. You love what is good and true. And know that all this makes you dangerous–to the fools, to the soulless gremlins, to the forces that would crush what is good and true and blow its dust to the four winds. And know that in the long arc of history, good will prevail.

I believe this. I will keep believing it, no matter what.

Know that you are a dragon, fierce and fiery, and that even if you are tiny, your fire is still fire. Tend that little flame. Take care of yourself. And when you’re ready, get back up. Get out there and be dangerous.

It’s a beautiful day to fight fascism.

Here be dragons.

3 thoughts on “not okay

  1. Brenna! I have tried twice to comment in the usual way – wordpress keeps questioning my existence, sigh. So I have either not been able to leave a comment or there’s a lag and I will have posted twice lol

    But, the message is a letter to you will be started soon, and there is this link/invitation/prompt by my dear friend and mentor, that I think might appeal to you

    https://yourinauguralpoem.com

    sometimes modern technology is just too annoying.

    Love to you, Peggy

    1. Hi, Peggy! I have had WordPress set up for a few years now to require my okay before comments post. I once had a post gain a little traction, and a random stranger found his way here and decided to be misogynistic in the comments. I want this to be a safe little corner of the interwebs for folks who hear enough of that garbage elsewhere, so I locked down comments and manually approve each one. Thank you so much for reading, and for being persistent! And thank you for the link–I love the inaugural poem idea!

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