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| Handmade taggy for a new baby in my neighborhood—plus the all-important book |
I’m so far from being in a state of flow on anything I’m trying to do at the moment. The combination of having been sick for the last couple of weeks and the daily onslaught of horrors makes it almost impossible to focus, and makes focusing on any one thing seem pointless. What difference does it make to help out a neighbor with snow removal? To donate a few dollars to a mutual aid fund in Minneapolis or Maine? To make a good dinner out of leftovers so they don’t go to waste? To put my hand up to do volunteer work? To edit a piece of academic research that only a handful of people will ever read? To sew a present for someone instead of just buying a cheap plastic thing online? To stand here on my little soapbox and say, “No! No! No!”
And yet I continue to believe that these things do matter, even when they seem like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. I remind myself that these are not new problems we are facing. I reiterate the importance of “know[ing] what you stand for and what you think is good.” I practice thinking of myself as part of a team. And I seek the courage to keep doing the next right thing, which is often to not succumb to the easy, apathizing lure of despair. I have not been called upon to display the kind of courage I see in the news every day—but I remain responsible for doing what I can. And, as a fellow blogger said, one thing I do know how to do is feed people:
