🚑 I'm not a first responder

Hi friend,

I really admire people who can sit down immediately after an event and write thorough analyses of it, but I'm not one of them.

Synthesis* is one of my superpowers, but for me it takes time to simmer and surface.

So I don't have any long, thoughtful piece for you on Trump's re-election last week. What I have for you is another aspect of synthesis (a collection of what other people quicker on the draw are saying), resources for caring for yourself and others, and these reminders:

Fatphobia is rooted in anti-Blackness.
Racism and transphobia are both bigotries partly centered in body disgust.
Every born human deserves bodily autonomy.
Every kind of oppression is a body liberation issue.
Body liberation means fighting the systems that cause oppression.
Consider moving your communications away from sites owned by Elon Musk (X/Twitter) or Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads).
For the love of everything don't discuss abortion plans outside a secure app like Signal, or trust your period data to tracker apps.

Unapologetically fat,

*Have you ever read Sharon Shinn's Elemental Blessings novel series? Synthesis is one of the extraordinary blessings in that world, which has also been on my mind.

"Truth and love have been smacked down, so many more times in history before today.

Truth, because it’s often inconvenient, and love because it is vulnerable.

But truth is like gravity, and carbon, and the sun behind an eclipse: it’s still there. And love stays alive if you tend it like a flame.

If you feel crushed by unkindness today, it’s a time for grieving, reaching out to loved ones, noticing one bright color somewhere in the day.

Remembering what there is to love. Starting with the immediate, the place and people we can tend ourselves, and make safe. We can’t save everything all at once, but it’s still worth saving something. Because there are so many of us to do it.

And we are all still here today, exactly as we were yesterday. Like gravity, and carbon, and the sun behind an eclipse."

> Barbara Kingsolver

The Conversation

Here's what's interesting me this week:

» Participation opportunity: Recruiting folx living in larger bodies for research (see)

» “I tried to educate people about tariffs, I tried to explain that undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes and are the foundation of this country. I explained Project 2025, I interviewed to show that they supported it. I can not compete against the propaganda machines of Twitter, Fox News, [Joe Rogan Experience], and NY Post. These spaces will continue to create reality unless we create a more effective way of reaching people.” (read)

» One must imagine Sisyphus exhausted. (read)

» Today, we grieve. Tomorrow, we fight the same fight we'd fight no matter who had won. (read)

» Fairies against fascism (see)

» You do NOT have to... (read)

» Right. Here's your to-do list for the next two months to put you in the best possible position to survive what's coming. (read)

» If you are vulnerable and also have the money when you get a passport… apply for a passport card as well. (read)

» Helpful tips for trans folks living in the US (read)

» The next generation shouldn't have fewer rights than we did. (read)

» I am seeing more and more opinions bubbling up about how throwing trans people to the wolves would be a winning strategy for Democrats, and I just want to quickly say: Fuck off with that absolute dog shit. (read)

» Grief reminders from someone who knows grief well. (read)

» Rather than lashing out in all directions, I really urge people to process their feelings. (read)

» We have now gotten through the first part of grief: the patient has died, we have learned the news. (read)

» 10 ways to be prepared and grounded now that Trump has won (read)

» This shit sucks and I'm gonna be inspired by Mr. Rogers. Here are tips from someone with an anxiety disorder! (read)

» It's helping me today to remember that this is not new. (read)

» DIY Doula: Self-Care Before, During & After Your Abortion (see)

» We have long been sold the fantasy that gen z will, by some inherent virtue, change the world. (read)

» Washington, like Oregon, has painless voting because it accomplished Black disenfranchisement by other means: it literally made it impossible to live there while Black. (read)

» Now that I've had my day of being sad, I'm going to make some systems to share. (read)

» Work in government? Get in touch with us if you have info we should know. (read)

» also ARCHIVE YOUR OWN WORK AND WORKS OF OTHERS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. (read)

» Wearing a damn mask is one of the immediate ways you can help the most marginalized people in your communities survive. (read)

» For those who need to do a bit more reading, thinking and considering before jumping into action, some resources for you. (read)

» okay, so. i have bipolar disorder. we have a suicide rate of about 1/5. i've basically spent my entire teenage and adult life trying not to kill myself. so with that in mind, here are my tips on how to hang in there (read)

» This is when "look for the helpers" works for grownups: look for the people who have the experience and are already doing the work. The work doesn't start now, it's been ongoing. Help them. Give them money and let them guide you. (read)

» Abortion practical support networks, which already exist in tandem with abortion funds, are an incredible way to help people in a very tangible way & watch your community do the same. (read)

» I am not going to spend another four years voluntarily being this man’s captive alongside them. He doesn’t get my headspace. He doesn’t get to take me away from the good things in life. He doesn’t get to make me spend my precious time on this planet giving my energy away to him. (read)

» What happens next is not predetermined and depends in part on us. (read)

🦄 Unicorn chaser: It has been an especially good foliage year here in Vermont! (see)

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