When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.

- Mister Rogers

I’m not going to give them my fear

- AOC

Hope is what we have in the face of adversity. Do not accept defeat. There is so much worth fighting for.

Sustain and nourish your hope.

The best thing that can happen to your opposition is you losing hope. Losing hope, losing the ability to imagine a different, better future drains you from even making the attempt. Making you hopeless, paralyzed, complacent is part of the oppositions strategy.

This rapid horrific change is still proof that change is possible.

Consciously nourish your hope. Consciously combat the attempts to make you hopeless.

Stop looking at the monster until that’s all you see, and you’re locked, frozen to the ground.

Look between the monsters’ feet. Look at all the people gathering, organizing, helping each other fight these skyscraper tall monsters.

If you won’t hope, there is no better place to find it than in community with likeminded people. Turn your dispair into action. Look at people around you. What do they need? What is a small thing that you can contribute right now. A small thing. Go do that. Believing that your actions matter and your contributions make a difference is a muscle you need to train.

Small things can be: Put up stickers. Talk to your neighbor. Looking up groups in your area. Bring food to someone who needs it. Help someone with groceries. Check in on a friend. Look into mutual aid programs in your area.

Every little kind action matters. It’s an antidote to dispare. Both for you and the people around you.

Consider how you can use your skills.

Help people away from META and on to the fediverse like Lemmy. People in my area are setting up hang outs where they help each other migrate platforms.

A lot of activists aren’t necessarily skilled with tech or social media. Is that something you can help with?

What do you do for work? No matter what you do, those skills are directly transferable and needed in your community.

Genuinely - There’s SO much super easy, practical stuff needed in your neighborhood, in your community, in your movement that would be SO easy to pick up and make SUCH a big difference. The biggest need is more hands. Always. You don’t have to know how to help. It becomes apparent SO quickly as soon as you step in the door.

There’s still a lot of work left to do. Keep fighting, cause there’s a lot worth fighting for.