{"id":4021,"date":"2020-12-29T13:53:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T18:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meredith.wolfwater.com\/wordpress\/?p=4021"},"modified":"2020-12-29T14:07:27","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T19:07:27","slug":"in-all-the-bad-some-good-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meredith.wolfwater.com\/wordpress\/2020\/12\/29\/in-all-the-bad-some-good-things\/","title":{"rendered":"In all the bad… some good things"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow, this has been a hard\u00a0year. No one’s life has been untouched by 2020 between the pandemic and\u00a0unrelenting\u00a0proof that the social safety net has been dismantled by late-stage capitalism, the state-sanctioned murders of black and brown people and ensuing protests, the horrendous wildfires that\u00a0felt like horsemen of the coming climate apocalypse, and\u00a0a stressful\u00a0election. It’s horrifying. Like all of us, my heart hurts for people who are suffering and those we’ve lost, while at the same time, I feel incomparable rage towards the government and institutions that could have made all of this so much less horrific. As Adrienne Maree Brown’s friend says in her most recent blog post<\/a>, “everyone needs more than anyone can give right now,” which makes us all feel so powerless because no matter how much any of us gives, it feels like a drop in the ocean.
\nIt’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole 9 1\/2 months since “lockdown”\u00a0started and yet it\u00a0also feels\u00a0like it’s been years<\/em>. The isolation that cut like a knife last Spring is starting to feel normal, which is\u00a0deeply concerning.\u00a0And it’s hard to look forward and imagine what “normal” is even going to look like in the future. I honestly can’t\u00a0picture any of it. I just know that after revealing so many of the gaping holes in the foundation of our capitalist, racist, sexist, ableist society, going back to the old “normal” would be just about the worst thing we could do.<\/p>\n

I’m very\u00a0aware of the enormous privilege I have and am grateful that my husband and I both still have jobs and are able to work from home while my son does online school. It hasn’t been easy this year, but we’re doing fine. And in the midst of all the stress and the truly truly awful, we\u00a0have\u00a0managed to find\u00a0moments of joy.<\/p>\n

People Who Inspire Me Regularly and Give me Faith in Humanity<\/strong><\/p>\n

When things are bad,\u00a0I find it therapeutic to look to people whose work or example inspires me. These people remind me that there is still so much good in the world. I have learned so much from the examples of others and these people have helped me to be a better version of myself.\u00a0I am so grateful that these people exist and that they generously share so much of themselves and\/or their work (either with the world or on a more local level with me): Allie Flanary, Zoe Fisher, Emily Drabinski, Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, Adam Farkas, Melissa Wong, Nicole Cook, Veronica Arellano Douglas, Kendra Levine, Johanna Jacobsen Kiciman,\u00a0Alison Macrina, Sara Robertson,\u00a0Callan Bignoli,\u00a0Adrienne Maree Brown, Nicole Pagowsky, Tara Brach, Adam Grant, the amazing\u00a0people who founded and run\u00a0We Here<\/a>, Jocelyn K. Glei, Violet Fox, McKensie Mack, Amanda Leftwich, Kelly McElroy, Reed Garber-Pearson, Anne Helen Peterson, Andromeda Yelton, and Merinda Hensley. Thank you all for being amazing, generous, and inspiring in your own ways.<\/p>\n

Books that\u00a0Sparked Joy This Year<\/strong><\/p>\n