The news feels increasingly bleak lately – kids torn away from their families then lost, potentially trafficked. Twisted scandals in Washington DC. An electoral system we may no longer be able to trust. Violence in schools and homes. Foreign policy blunders all over. Unarmed, nonviolent immigrants and protesters being shot in the head. Everything feels shitty.

I’ve started avoiding news. I’ll scroll by another story about something that is heartbreaking as fast as I can so I don’t have that sick sinking feeling of being unable to do much of anything about this shit. I feel guilty doing this, since I know I have the privilege to scroll by and ignore it, even just briefly. It’s not directly affecting me in an immediate way, so I am privileged in a way that I can afford to set it aside for a bit and try to give my mental state and mind a break from the onslaught. Then I feel guilty because I know this is affecting some people very directly and personally, so I try to read what I can before I need another break for sanity.

I wish I could find some way to make a difference in a more direct way, and I wish I had the energy to do so. I am thankful for the people doing the work on a daily basis. ❤