cleothedog

I recently relaunched my newsletter under a new title: salt air. Art and more in your inbox roughly once a month!

Check it out on Substack – and please subscribe (it’s free), read, and share!

Here’s an excerpt from the latest issue, “bitterness and light: Love is an act of resistance”:

One of the most salient things that I’ve been struck by, as the far-right movement has gained power and the country becomes increasingly fascist, is what I see as this movement’s potentially defining feature: its sociopathic lack of empathy. It’s every man for himself. And every animal, every ecosystem.

But when one person—or animal or ecosystem—suffers, we all suffer. And saying NO to this, in whatever ways we can, is an act of resistance.

Caring for our friends and family members and neighbors—showing them we care, doing what we can—is an act of resistance.

Love is an act of resistance. Joy is an act of resistance.

We can—and must—organize. We can and must find—and make—space for joy and connection. Fear—of what will come or that we can’t affect change—and apathy and pessimism—waiting it out, putting our heads in the sand—are what fuels this kind of darkness. The individuals behind this movement—and yes, there are particular people who benefit (corrupt politicians, tech billionaires, gas, oil, and healthcare industry execs, and so on)—want us to be separate and to feel afraid and powerless; it makes it easier to control us while they pillage. But we’re not powerless.

And when I say we must make space for joy, I don’t just mean “find ‘pockets’ of joy” or take what you can get, “just try and get through the next four years” or focus on “self-care” in the sense that that term is used now. Taking care of yourself is obviously paramount, and sometimes small things are what you can reach for and implement in a moment—lighting a candle, taking a bath, walking outside for 30 minutes, etc. But I mean radically making space for joy and connection, saying NO I will not submit, saying YES I love other people and we are together in this, even if (even though) we have monumental challenges ahead of and all around us.

Read more at saltairletter.substack.com!