Martin Luther King Jr. Day and *gestures wildly* all this.

I think I may have an ear infection, but I can’t write while I can hear every little thing in my house so I have AirPods in. Anyone know if this is going to make things worse? Let me know.

I’ve written a few blog posts that I haven’t published.

Might not publish this one either, we’ll see.

Fair warning, this post may be all over the place. I’m not going to try and edit into palatability or censor myself. The time for that is long behind us, and I’d honestly just like to get this down and to you, reader. Friend.

Life is heavy right now. The United States is in crisis.

It is so much, in fact, that I never know which piece of insanity I should focus on at any given moment, much less what to write about it. If I focus on one thing, will people assume I don’t see the other things that are happening? Because I do. I see them all.  

And while I watch and try to find ways to combat this absolute shit show, I’m also—like many others—continuing on with life as best I can.

I’m wiping asses and cooking meals and taking the dog out and mopping the floor and teaching school and fighting a cold and writing about vampires. I’m checking the news too many times a day. Crying after the little kids are in bed. Raging to my partner about things he cannot change, like it’s his fault that our democracy has become a joke.

I’m worrying about neighbors, friends, and people I’ve never met. Swearing at my phone with each new development like it will do a damn bit of good.

Even though I feel like I’ve been very clear about where I stand when it comes to this administration and where our country has found itself, I still sometimes get comments from readers letting me know they’ll no longer follow me or read my books.

To that, let me be clear. You can just go, dude.

If you think that my dedication to human rights, treating others with kindness, welcoming the stranger, feeding those who need to eat, a woman’s right to choose, science-based healthcare, teaching actual history in schools, the rule of law, the United States maintaining strong allies across the world, and taxing billionaires fairly is somehow too much or doesn’t align with your values…you don’t have to announce your departure.

My feelings aren’t hurt, my values won’t change, and I will not be quiet about them.

Not now.

Not in this moment.

In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

Dr. King’s words feel especially poignant tonight… and disturbingly apt.

I am tired, you guys. I am tired down to my bones.

I bet you are, too.

But, tomorrow, we’ll get up and fight the good fight again—whatever that looks like for each of us.

We will survive this. We are stronger together.

And wherever you are, know that I’m with you in spirit. Squeezing your hand. Patting your back. Giving you a hug, if you’re into that.

Let’s live up to the ideal that Dr. King believed we could sixty-three years ago.

Take care of yourself. There is no one like you anywhere in the world and we need you.

Nicole

A little light reading.