Personal confrontations among friends are a special kind of hell. No matter how much you brace for the conflict, or how hard you try to keep calm, eventually the anxiety takes hold and restraint goes out the window. It's such an awful experience most of us will do anything to avoid it. Unfortunately, in today's … Continue reading The Anxious Person’s Guide to Political Discourse
Category: Politics
(BHM) Slavery in the United States
No one needs to tell you that slavery was kind of a big deal in the United States. It's taught almost every year in American History classes, and at the very least students learn a lot about how it was ended when the Confederacy lost the American Civil War. Even still, while we know a … Continue reading (BHM) Slavery in the United States
It’s Black History Month!
I honestly don't know if Black History Month is a big deal to anyone who doesn't have to learn about it because it's a whole section of their American History class. Being educated in a predominantly black city, I was taught about the usual black American luminaries year after year -- Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, … Continue reading It’s Black History Month!
We Need To Talk
The season five finale of Steven Universe felt like a perfect encapsulation of what makes the show so great -- it made a case for its themes and worldview while acknowledging just how difficult it can be holding to those views. Steven, and the family of Crystal Gems he's built, have often struggled to navigate … Continue reading We Need To Talk
Building A Better Buddhist in 2019
If there is one thing in 2019 we are sorely in need of, it's more compassion and empathy. I know this has been the rallying cry of many different corners of our society for a while now -- some have even weaponized the idea of civility as a means of shutting down dissent. But look … Continue reading Building A Better Buddhist in 2019
(Politics) For The Culture
The culture wars have been raging for a little while now, on all kinds of different fronts in so many different ways. We're fighting about the idea of "white culture", the cultural appropriation of Native Americans and black Americans, how to clearly and succinctly define what's offensive about one thing while another thing is given … Continue reading (Politics) For The Culture
(Personal) Tharn
It's been a rough summer for me, anxiety-wise. The news is full of terrible stories from the current president's administration in the United States, and it's coming so fast the scandals just bleed together. Saying the President or his Cabinet has done something awful that threatens the fabric of democracy is like saying water is … Continue reading (Personal) Tharn
(Geekery) Serving Our Stories, Ourselves
We don't live in times where self-reflection is encouraged often enough. I mean, I understand why it feels so hard to take a moment to check in with ourselves and make adjustments where needed; making sure we're living up to our own values feels awfully self-indulgent when so many people around us feel as if … Continue reading (Geekery) Serving Our Stories, Ourselves
(Politics) Your Light is All You Have
The world is on fire and nothing is okay. At a time when climate change is chugging along exactly as scientists said it would, when we're running out of fresh water and the crude, polluting oil we've built our entire society around, the world is caught up in a wave of xenophobia, authoritarianism and weaponized … Continue reading (Politics) Your Light is All You Have
(Politics) Fighting to Save the Things We Love
"That's how we're going to win: not fighting what we hate, saving what we love." - Rose Tico, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Last week, the actress who played Rose, Kelly Marie Tran, deleted her Instagram account after months of harassment rooted in racism and misogyny by trolls who hated her inclusion in the Skywalker … Continue reading (Politics) Fighting to Save the Things We Love
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 