HOLIDAY THANKS

The winter storm wasn’t messing around.

There’s always a sense that maybe these things are being overblown and oversold by media desperate to hook people to their feeds. When I got to Indiana it was all anyone wanted to talk about. The stores were full of people in the aisles, gossiping about this and that, but mostly speculating. I heard a former teacher of mine tell someone that nothing was going to happen. The man she was talking about wasn’t so sure, but he was betting it was going to be a big disappointment.

But it wasn’t. Or rather, it happened. Strong winds, hard snow, cold the likes of which I’ve never experienced. I had to go and shovel my aunt’s driveway and…my god. I had to seek refuge in the heated interior of my car four separate times. It was the kind of thing that reminds you how powerful nature can be.

There was a lot to take in, all the sights, the sounds, the experience of sitting square in a weather phenomenon. But it was also an opportunity to give thanks, which is how I like to spend my holidays these days. My family was warm and safe. Holidays have always been stressful, obviously, as family coming together can lead to a ton of stress as we navigate all these difference relationships in confined spaces. They’re turned into something they shouldn’t be. Something tense. Something where consumerist society tends to replace kindness and connection. But it doesn’t have to be if we can keep focus on what is good and what is important.

All this is to say I’m thankful for you.

And I mean that.

These last few years have been so much. Since I suddenly found myself a public figure and the target of relentless attacks and threats from Far Right extremists, people have been so kind and supportive, and this was yet another year where that was simply the case. You, as a reader, as a supporter, as a community member, as just a person, have meant everything to me as I’ve navigated this mess. You’ve kept me optimistic even as I’ve documented the worst society has to offer. You’ve kept me hopeful even when times were darkest. There have been plenty of times where I didn’t know if I could keep going, if I could keep up the fight, and you were there, offering kindness.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I hope these holidays that you and yours are safe and warm and happy. I hope, despite all the petty differences and interruptions and the things that pass for division, that you are kind to one another in your places and in your spaces. We will get back to this struggle, back to the fight to make a better future. For now, we should rest and reenergize. Prioritize what is important and what is real.

Thank you. Again.