No doubt you may be feeling anxious, bummed or outright scared about the the state of the world right now. (That *was* a Nazi salute, and the fact that we are debating it at all feels like a diversion from the fact that THAT WAS A NAZI SALUTE.) And not to overly validate your fears but I do want to say this:
Please watch this 5-minute video from the New York Times (gift link) called “How Does Tyranny Begin?” This is so crucial to understanding the era that we are in. The erosion of legal, social and cultural norms, as part of the path to tyranny, has already begun. It’s so important to situate ourselves correctly within this world-historical narrative, no matter which country we live in.
To be clear, what’s happening in the U.S. is showing us that laws are not the durable objects we once thought they were. They are, as my friend Catharine said to me this morning, simply gentlemen’s agreements, and nothing more.
Yet/and/but also:
This afternoon, my therapist advised that it’s still important to attend to all the little things that make up our daily lives. Part of this is about attending to your own well-being so that you have the energy to fight. But it’s also about hope-building, she said. To continue to care about other people is hopeful. So I want to just leave you with three hopeful thingies here.
I learned of the Instagram account of lawyer and trans activist Chase Strangio this week from Julia Turshen’s newsletter. Strangio writes,
I am reminding myself that my resistance will come through denying the administration the chaos they seek. It will come by remembering that their plans and rhetoric are just the regurgitated policies that we have long defied. It will come through our insistent and urgent love for each other. We have the collective memory and mapmaking to guide us. That does not mean it won’t be scary. It will. It just means we will turn our fear towards care not chaos. Towards building not dividing. Thank you to everyone holding me. I will hold you too. I put my faith in us.
The protest songs of Jesse Welles. “War Isn’t Murder” is a standout, a serious gut punch in the way that perhaps all protest songs should be. “Ozempic” is a good example of the wry social commentary Welles writes incredibly quickly in response to current events. If you live in any of these U.S. towns he’s touring this year, snag those tickets now.
- ‘s Substack newsletter, Behind the Book. Her most recent issue was an urgent call for community. And not just the vague idea of “community,” but the idea of what she calls protecting our connections to each other. This means, among other things, to “show up in joy, not just outrage.” It means learning the names and contact details of those who relationships up to now are accidental or transactional. We are not alone, Ijeoma reminds us, and I genuinely feel warmed and motivated by her words.
Here’s one teensy tiny way I am trying to shift accidental or transactional relationships into possibilities of care. You can try this, too:
I often get compliments on my array of glasses. So I’ve decided that any time a stranger remarks, “Wow, I love your glasses!” I reply, “Thank you! What’s your name?” It’s already allowed me to get acquainted with two people who go to the same Pilates studio as me. It honestly feels like such a neat, low-key way of getting to know my neighbours. Plus, as my therapist pointed it, it takes effort in a city like Toronto to even pay someone a compliment, so it feels nice to reciprocate that effort.
Upcoming Sunday Sessions
Last week, I kicked off the low-cost, one-hour classes I’m holding every Sunday at 1:00 pm Eastern (at least between now and the end of March). All the classes provide super actionable stuff you can use to heal your body image and your relationship with food. Here’s what’s coming up in these next four weeks:
January 26: Building Your Body Image Toolkit, Part 1
February 2: Building Your Body Image Toolkit, Part 2
February 9: Reparenting Your Relationship With Food
NEW! February 16: Intuitive Eating: A Pathway to Food Peace
After each class, you’ll get a nice lil’ digital workbook with info, reflection exercises and writing prompts. Plus you can submit questions to me in advance or in the chat during the session. At $15 a pop, these classes are the perfect alternative to making a big/scary/expensive coaching commitment.
Quick Bites
Hinky shit is afoot on TikTok. I deleted a couple paragraphs I wrote on this because if I get into it, will a) definitely make me look like a conspiracy theorist and/or b) be entirely meaningless to non-users. So all I will say for now is, Americans, it’s good to have you back on the app, but we are nowhere near the end of the TikTok saga.
A bad watch: If you like reality shows of the dating variety, I am telling you: do NOT bother watching Love is Blind Germany. It is HELLACIOUSLY boring, most of the couples really do not seem to like each other at all, and the reunion was absolute trash. 1/10. Avoid!
East end Toronto folks! The aforementioned Catharine flagged for me that a new Bom Dia location has opened up on the Danforth and their baked goods look AMAZING. And it’s woman-owned! Let’s snag some pasteis de nata and support a good thing (and overcome our Toronto-ness by chatting up our neighbours while we do!).
OK, my darlings, that’s all for this week. Let’s keep breathing. Let’s armour up in all the necessary ways and stay open to each other in all the necessary ways.
xoxoxo,
Sabina