Okay, time to hope

[minoanmiss]

When no less a luminary than Representative John Lewis advises:

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. #goodtrouble

Comments

[redbird]

Thank you. I have just followed him on Twitter. (I don't go there every day, I can't bear to, but given that my Twitter is already full of activists and comments on the news, I think I can use that viewpoint.)

[rafiwinters]

I would use my "WTF" userpic for this but I do know what's going on. Damn it.

[minoanmiss]

Rereading this post and finding your new (AWESOME) default icon in it is definitely a moment of bolstered hope. Thank you, Mr. Lewis. I know he's pleased.

[rafiwinters]

Aww. I'm glad you like it. If I could take credit for the icon, I would. I don't know who made the original image.

[amaebi]

Amen.

[princessofgeeks]

And he should know. He's amazing.

[lb_lee]

I have a playing card deck where each card is a protection against something. One of my favorite parts is that the two jokers are mirrors of each other, each with an identical composition of a pelican on the coast, with a body of water and an island in the background.

One shows a beautiful pristine landscape with a healthy pelican, a sailboat, and a border of flowers. It reads, "Protection from comfortable delusions."

The other shows a landscape covered in pollution and sludge with a toxic factory on the island, a huge oil tanker, and the pelican covered in oil. The border is bones. It reads, "Protection from crippling despair."

I feel like the problems come from when despair is mistaken for objective assessment. We've felt despair a lot of times, and it's never inspired us to meaningful action; it's always a passive or self-destructive response, a giving up. It's a sign, in us at least, of being completely overwhelmed, needing rest and a break from whatever's causing us to despair, so we can stockpile some energy and go back to fighting the good fight.

Especially since KNOWING about a thing isn't the same as DOING SOMETHING about a thing.

--Sneak

[contrarywise]

I have that deck too, and it's wonderful! Thanks for reminding me of it, since it's sunk to the bottom of the card box stack.

[vettecat]

Great quote, thank you for sharing.

[caitri]

In similar news, Obama gave a speech for Democrats and told them to stop moping: https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/29/politics/obama-democrats-fundraiser/index.html?

"If what you are doing requires no sacrifice at all, then you can do more," Obama told the tony crowd at a sweeping multi-million-dollar Beverly Hills home. "If you are one of these folks who is watching cable news at your cocktail parties with your friends and you are saying 'civilization is collapsing' and you are nervous and worried, but that is not where you are putting all your time, energy and money, then either you don't actually think civilization is collapsing ... or you are not pushing yourself hard enough and I would push harder."
At one point, he turned to the crowd and declared, "Enough moping, this is a mope-free zone."

[kore]

John Lewis's Twitter justifies the whole stupid lousy social media thing, I swear to God.