Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

We create hope, not simply hold onto it or believe in it.

Our actions create hope, our intentions and our impact.

(Good intentions without good impact can also destroy hope. Don’t fall back on your intentions.)

I have not written many news or political posts since the election. I am paying attention, but unsure what to report, which story to extract from this absolutely bonkers reality. Realizing that there is no time to spare, I need more time to process and fuel the hope I carry still.

As I’ve shared before, I believe there are lessons of survival to be learned from those who have endured far worse. They share their stories and their tools and lessons. We can listen and learn through social media as well as traditional media and the arts, through connections with local resources – going to lectures, talks, exhibits, etc. There’s no clear pivot to the looming hellscape for middle-class white America, but perhaps by lowering our resistance to expanding our own sense of culture – we can create hope.

Personally, I find content on Instagram to be quite useful. I spend time each day scrolling through Reels to immerse myself in images and voices and sounds outside of my own reality. When I encounter something new to me, I go sideways and Google. Absorbing and sharing cultural lessons from cultures that have existed and continue to exist for tens of thousands of years as well as subcommunities who create content about their histories … this is useful. I am a better person for having accepted the opportunity to engage.

Now that means I must give back. A share or tout is one thing, an investment is another. It isn’t hard to find online suggestions to invest in any particular community. Doing so will also expand your understanding of our shared reality.

It is also important to ensure you are engaging authentic creators. And that we should have been doing this all along – we have to acknowledge how our privilege and our trauma has created ‘an out’ for us.

This is work, not entertainment. It requires effort, intention, and work.

Maybe it is not for you. That’s okay, but I implore you not to bury your head in the sand especially if you have privilege that can help others.

I feel deep gratitude for those who create content that expands my mind and nutures my hope.

I still don’t feel ready to blog.

You can find me on Instagram and elsewhere.