ellen juniper ✅Focusing on your work does not make you a bad person. Distracting yourself does not make you a bad person. Not being able to manage the psychological impact of these events does not make you a bad person. Not being equipped to come up with some kind of response to these events does not make you a bad person. Being scared and feeling powerless are not abnormal. If you are reading this, you are more than likely not responsible for what’s happened.
You do not have to have a plan of response. Lacking the ability to stop this does not make you a bad person. Needing to move on with your night does not make you selfish, or cowardly, or bad. Putting yourself first is not unhealthy, it is not selfish, it is not bad. Anyone who tries to tell you so does not care about you. Logging off is okay. Taking a break is okay. Your feelings are valid - consider writing them down or recording a voice memo.
Remember that there is only so much you can do as an individual and as a citizen. Tomorrow, consider writing down some potential options. You do not have to do anything. Not being able to do something doesn’t make you a bad person, nor does it make you complicit. If you feel compelled to do something, and if you feel you have the ability, consider writing down a plan of action.
So many of the people that follow me are marginalized, disabled, young, and likely scared out of their mind. This is mostly for y’all. Take stock of how you feel. Pay close attention to the positive things you have done and hold onto them. Put yourself first. Try to keep your thoughts in the present. Find solace and safety in *right now*. Worrying about the future is fruitless - and not your job.
I love you a whole lot and I think you’re great. You matter to me and it’s going to be okay.
Karl T.@kadybat I am not young, and not particularly marginalized. But I am so grateful for this -- the love you articulate here is the love that will preserve us, ground us, keep us holding each other up. Thank you, and may the love you show the world (and your followers) come back to you tenfold.