May there be more compassionate and kind people defining our public life and body politic in 2023.
https://america.substack.com/p/kindness-is-a-show-of-strength-redux
It’s the flip side of cruelty and hate, an act or way of being that can exude confidence and illuminate optimism. Showing kindness offers a bracing contrast to those who are always hitting back or punching down, grimly convinced that to do otherwise is an expression of weakness.
Somehow get from New York City to Maine after our plane was canceled due to extreme weather (via rental car): Check.
Take long walk with family on Christmas Day with 17 degrees and four layers: Check.
Return to inn and drink two glasses of red wine bought at local grocery upon arrival: Check.
Feeling grateful, despite so much trouble in the body politic: Check.
This is the first time in ~17 yrs that the majority of the people in my network are talking to each other in public via an open protocol on community-run servers rather than a startup's service.
It's really nice to have gotten here, in a way that's entwined not only with nostalgic feelings, but also their optimistic underpinnings that were the reason I was interested in all this in the first place.
I heard there was another look-at-me antic on the old site, and it was my pleasure not to care.
Steven Beschloss
Drew Harwell
Halle Winkler