You make a lot of really good point about understanding both law and science and the imperfection of both. Also, the way journalism works today, which isn't remotely unbiased or truthful reporting. So little of those today. One I would suggest has more nuance is that the tragic ICE shootings are a direct result of untrained ICE agents holding guns. The open border policies might be the reason there are illegal immigrants. But the shootings themselves, those are on ICE agents with guns. Every shooting comes down to the person holding the gun. There was an excellent article in Mother Jones this week about the shootings that's well worth the read time. I'm just a Canadian watching over the fence, but my heart aches for everything in the news, from the 1200 girls in the Epstein files to the ICE shootings and heaven knows what else.
And I think we should also consider that we can help to provide these things to our readers, since they also need these things.
One more thing I'd add is that trust is golden, and if we want to earn trust we have to be as sure as we can that we have reliable sources of information.
I make the assumption that our readers want to know what's going on and are also traumatized by world events right now. So I try to write accordingly, honouring the times we're in, our need for correct information and how traumatized people are feeling by world events.
I hope so, too. Sometimes I'm just so unbearably sad for so much of the world. And I know it's time to get into nature when I feel that way because I come back better for it.
Another great article, although (and I know you'll disapprove), I decide not to read things that upset me. At 81, there's only time to focus on the things where I can make a positive difference. A gentle reminder...I'm anxiously awaiting your book on better titles. Let me know how I can get it. Thank you, Linda. You're an exceptional writer, and I heart you for this. Blue💙
Oh I absolutely approve, Blue. I cannot watch videos of Trump. Just can't hear that man's voice. So I don't. And fyi, it will be a private post, not a book, and it will arrive in your email the same way these posts do. :)
I think what writers need the most is protection of language. we work with words and can't do our work if dishonesty and misuse of language renders words meaningless.
I agree, Stephen. Funny you should say that. I was chatting with a friend the other day about that very topic. So many words have multiple connotations that it makes communication difficult. If I say the word feminism, some people think gender equality, while others think man-hater. I wish I knew how to ensure that we all use correct definitions, but I don't so I try my best to be clear about what I'm saying. It's easier said than done, though
I'm biting my tongue, or finger? I should tie up my fingers so I can't type and rant about this, Stephen. You brought up one of my pet peeves right now. Words seem to have lost their meaning. People are calling certain Democrats liberal or progressive when they're neither. I called out somebody's whataboutism the other day and he went ballistic. Apparently whataboutism can only occur while being Republican. It's not something a Democrat would ever do. Except they do that, and everything else Rs are doing.
maybe a rant is needed. Politics is at the center of the problem, but the consequences aren't confined to the political arena. words are also used for other essential human experiences like art, communicating happiness, love, joy, for caregiving, for play, for intellect. these pursuits suffer when language suffers.
God that was a delight. When did we last have anyone that's really much left of center? And what does left and right mean when they're all just cronies of the oligarchy? Show me someone who won't just pad the pockets of the billionaires and maybe we're talking but until then I have a plant that needs watering lol
The Progressives: #Bernie/#AOC/#Mamdani/Crockett/Porter/Pritzker et al must form a Third Progressive Truly Left Humanist Party; to remove money from politics, save our environment & eliminate the Atlas Network/Heritage.
As for the rest, Ralph said it best –
“The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That's the only difference.” - Ralph Nader
I'd rather be in the dark about it all because then I start to feel heavy and treat everything like "what's the point, anyways". No matter how hard I try and how oblivious I am there's no escaping it because someone will post it on their WhatsApp status. The world is getting darker and what we need, as writers, what the entire world needs, is light that keeps shining through. So in whatever form or way we can help to keep the little bulb from dying, let's do our best.
I think the 3 things you listed apply to all of us...not just writers. Thank you for this...I always wonder if the heart is an acknowledgment of the writing, or an agreement with the writer or that you like the content. When it's a difficult topic I tend to hesitate to heart...but I come to use the heart as a sending of my gratitude to the writer. For taking the time to share their thoughts with me. So thank you. It's a difficult time (even watching from Canada).
Good point, I sometimes forget not everyone here is writing. It's so interesting how we all define what the heart mean, isn't it? I tend to see it as a thanks to the writer, but not everyone does. Some take it very literally. (I'm in Canada, too!)
I use several pillows for soft landings: a good novel and a cup of chai tea, a walk outside, no matter the weather, and my garden.
I read the awful because I believe it is my obligation to be informed. But I take it in bits and pieces.
My son has abandoned the world as it is. He does not engage with the news, has lost all hope for the US, and is instead planning his European travels and digital nomad stays.
Who is on the right path? I suspect he sleeps better than I do.
God, Sue. Boy, do I hear you. My sister will not listen to any news. I try to take it in bits and pieces, too. But I suspect she sleeps better than I do, too
As I slowly reveal the twisty path into my own future, I find I need to keep my focus on compassion. For me, music is the sum of all wisdom, where I find shelter, comfort, all the things. I was an accomplished musician once, but foolishly turned from that path, and now finding my way back. Mostly through writing (about music), but also taking up a new instrument (violin) and I've (re)discovered compassion that I had misplaced over years of an unwanted life. I'm taken with your list, thanks for putting it out there today.
I'm so glad you found your way back to music, Scott. That's the absolutely best part of your whole comment. And thank you very much for your last sentence :)
Ohhhh, I follow. You are so right. I watched a video this morning where they slowed the video down frame by frame. It was so sad. The administration said what they did because there's only one scenario in which ICE is permitted to fire on a civilian and it's the one they pretended happened. They're trying to cover themselves legally
Omg, right? Boy, that's the truth. I turned on payments because I was thinking I can't keep spending this much time here free, I have bills to pay. But wow, it's hard earning a living writing. Cripes.
I try, but not hard enough, to stay away from the news. I don't need the negativity. But more than that, I can't do anything about it. If I say something, it won't matter. If I repeat it, one more person might be exposed to it. As long as sensational news sells, we'll get it.
Hey Linda! I'm trying to parse out what the three things are. Unlike Diana van Eyk, I can't seem to clearly identify them: reliable news sources? A soft cushion? Good titles? I think Renee Good is all over our newsfeeds because she's like the kindergarten room mother that many people who read and watch the news can identify with––if it happened to her, it can happen to any one of usl The brown-skinned man not so much: immigrant, male - even the brown-skinned woman screaming that she's a citizen as they handcuff her and drag her away wasn't as shocking to the mainstream white middle class as Renee Good (notice I'm not saying that it justifies her getting more attention). But also there comes a time when the horribleness and cruelty and outrageousness of what has become of us as a nation reaches critical mass and all lights start to shine their beams on the problem and stop glossing over it. And George Floyd and brown-skinned man and woman and Trayvon Martin and Rodney King and countless others have all contributed to our reaching critical mass. Perhaps Renee Good is the tipping point. Let's hope that the time has comel
Honestly, I didn't know for the longest time that Renee Good was white. I think only last night I found out. This whole time I assumed she was black because the corner where George Floyd was murdered is somewhere around there too.
I try not to look at everything through a racial identity lens. The shocking part about what happened to Renee is 1. eye witnesses with their cameras who caught the murder from several angles, 2. that she was fleeing and did not represent a threat, and 3. the Orwellian lying associated with it. Personally, when I saw the clip where the guy just extended his arm and fired into the car at the person inside who I had heard before was shot in the head, it was clear to me that this was basically an execution. It's the most chilling thing I ever saw, reminiscent of the scene a few months ago when ICE agents on a roof shot pepper balls at a priest's head who was praying in the street.
I'm glad you said that because I didn't know she was white until the photos started showing up on Notes either. The really chilling thing is that they have to lie about it because ICE agents are not legally permitted to fire unless their lives are in danger. They've killed 2 and used the same lie each time. Video contradicted that in both
Writers who hang onto love, compassion and hope are vital today. It’s easy to write about darkness when you’re swimming in it. Harder to see light and share it from within cultural fear. There’s no work around for this imo. No pill. No short-cut. Today is about choosing and sharing light. It will be for the foreseeable future as fearful systems and doctrines unravel to make way for better options.
Yes! Vision, hope, and a soft landing place, what a help that trio is. Thanks for pointing to those crucial elements. As you and Didion, I too write to work through what I think. I appreciate your tackling of tough times and daily challenges in your posts.
Great article and so many great comments. I think it is absolutely possible to be horrified, sad, enraged, and bereft at the murder of Renee Good and also be horrified, sad, enraged, and bereft at every other murder of an individual by ICE. I also think that we do not diminish one murder by pointing out the added injustice of the lack of media attention on all the other murders. As a factual matter, I do not know why the others have not received the same attention. I am not sure if there is as much bystander video footage of the others like there is with Ms. Good's, and quite frankly, I'm not going to search for it, because I don't want to see it if it exists. But I can make what I feel is a pretty safe assumption that at least part of the difference in media treatment (and therefore public outrage) is racial. And I say this as a white woman, but let's face it, racism and prejudice exists in this country (to an even greater degree than we likely realized prior to 2016), and the media is and always had been dominated by white people (primarily men). There is an undeniable bias, and it has been exacerbated in the past year by a regime that has managed to get all the (whatever you want to call it - mainstream, legacy, etc.) media to bend the knee and become some version of state-run media. And I also like to deal in facts, but sadly reliable facts are becoming harder and harder to come with every passing day. An that is truly tragic! Thank you to Linda and this community though for being a bit of that soft padding we all need these days! Even when the topic is difficult, your writing brings beauty into my life, Linda.
I hear you. I also know exactly what you mean about writing to find out what you think. Though sometimes it leaves me none the wiser.
Over here in Victoria, Australia, the fires on the horizon are literal rather than figurative. Sixty bushfires at the last count, most of them burning out of control, some of them huge.
I remember the eerie dread of our Black Summer. When the sun didn't shine for weeks because of the fires 400 km away in the mountains. Then, a couple of months later, COVID arrived on our shores.
Some may disagree, but I reckon we still have a largely intact, largely functional democracy here in Australia. We have systemic problems aplenty (like a piss-weak response to the climate change that's burning our country). Some terrible things happen, Bondi for one thing. Then everyone starts squabbling over what it means and what to do about it. Civil discourse falters, becomes bad tempered and polarised. But most of us feel safe around each other, most of the time, I think. (Do I think that? Or is it just my privilege?)
What's happening in the USA scares the living shit out of me. Part of me would rather not know. I can't read the babblings of that tangerine monster any more. Can't look at his face. The way he treated Zelenskyy made me feel physically sick.
When I came to Substack 4 years ago I decided it was going to be my safe place, my happy place. Where I don't get embroiled in all the arguments like I did on Quora, on Twitter, on the news websites. I just came here to write gentle, positive, whimsical fiction. Not deal with the stuff that was making me ill.
I still tend to feel that. We don't have to do all the things, be all things, all the time, in all our spaces. So the couple of political Substacks I've signed up to are baby steps. We'll see how that goes.
But thank you for tackling the hard stuff, and still being kind.
I hear you Steve. Ever since that clip with Trump and Zelenskyy I have not been able to watch Trump. Can't do it. Don't want to hear his voice. I'm in Canada and much of what you say about Australia I'd also say about here. So much of last summer with air we couldn't breathe because of fires, but mostly a functional democracy. It's sure hard to be the neighbor watching over the fence and hurting for what I see. And thank you so much for your last sentence. I do so try to be kind, and it feels nice to have that seen
You make a lot of really good point about understanding both law and science and the imperfection of both. Also, the way journalism works today, which isn't remotely unbiased or truthful reporting. So little of those today. One I would suggest has more nuance is that the tragic ICE shootings are a direct result of untrained ICE agents holding guns. The open border policies might be the reason there are illegal immigrants. But the shootings themselves, those are on ICE agents with guns. Every shooting comes down to the person holding the gun. There was an excellent article in Mother Jones this week about the shootings that's well worth the read time. I'm just a Canadian watching over the fence, but my heart aches for everything in the news, from the 1200 girls in the Epstein files to the ICE shootings and heaven knows what else.
I agree with your three things, Linda.
And I think we should also consider that we can help to provide these things to our readers, since they also need these things.
One more thing I'd add is that trust is golden, and if we want to earn trust we have to be as sure as we can that we have reliable sources of information.
I make the assumption that our readers want to know what's going on and are also traumatized by world events right now. So I try to write accordingly, honouring the times we're in, our need for correct information and how traumatized people are feeling by world events.
I love that, Diana. Absolutely true, trust and reliability walk through life holding hands.
Thanks, Linda. And I hope this realization that's come late to many has us sharpening our discernment and becoming better people in the process.
I hope so, too. Sometimes I'm just so unbearably sad for so much of the world. And I know it's time to get into nature when I feel that way because I come back better for it.
Another great article, although (and I know you'll disapprove), I decide not to read things that upset me. At 81, there's only time to focus on the things where I can make a positive difference. A gentle reminder...I'm anxiously awaiting your book on better titles. Let me know how I can get it. Thank you, Linda. You're an exceptional writer, and I heart you for this. Blue💙
Oh I absolutely approve, Blue. I cannot watch videos of Trump. Just can't hear that man's voice. So I don't. And fyi, it will be a private post, not a book, and it will arrive in your email the same way these posts do. :)
I'm looking forward to that too!
Ah, Linda, I really appreciate you, your writing and your compassion. I LOVE the articles you write on writing. Thank you. Blue💙
I think what writers need the most is protection of language. we work with words and can't do our work if dishonesty and misuse of language renders words meaningless.
I agree, Stephen. Funny you should say that. I was chatting with a friend the other day about that very topic. So many words have multiple connotations that it makes communication difficult. If I say the word feminism, some people think gender equality, while others think man-hater. I wish I knew how to ensure that we all use correct definitions, but I don't so I try my best to be clear about what I'm saying. It's easier said than done, though
I'm biting my tongue, or finger? I should tie up my fingers so I can't type and rant about this, Stephen. You brought up one of my pet peeves right now. Words seem to have lost their meaning. People are calling certain Democrats liberal or progressive when they're neither. I called out somebody's whataboutism the other day and he went ballistic. Apparently whataboutism can only occur while being Republican. It's not something a Democrat would ever do. Except they do that, and everything else Rs are doing.
maybe a rant is needed. Politics is at the center of the problem, but the consequences aren't confined to the political arena. words are also used for other essential human experiences like art, communicating happiness, love, joy, for caregiving, for play, for intellect. these pursuits suffer when language suffers.
They sure do. God, even posting on Notes is like walking on thin ice because someone will misunderstand a word and lose their mind.
God that was a delight. When did we last have anyone that's really much left of center? And what does left and right mean when they're all just cronies of the oligarchy? Show me someone who won't just pad the pockets of the billionaires and maybe we're talking but until then I have a plant that needs watering lol
The Duopoly is not our friend.
The Progressives: #Bernie/#AOC/#Mamdani/Crockett/Porter/Pritzker et al must form a Third Progressive Truly Left Humanist Party; to remove money from politics, save our environment & eliminate the Atlas Network/Heritage.
As for the rest, Ralph said it best –
“The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That's the only difference.” - Ralph Nader
Oh, Linda ❤️
I'd rather be in the dark about it all because then I start to feel heavy and treat everything like "what's the point, anyways". No matter how hard I try and how oblivious I am there's no escaping it because someone will post it on their WhatsApp status. The world is getting darker and what we need, as writers, what the entire world needs, is light that keeps shining through. So in whatever form or way we can help to keep the little bulb from dying, let's do our best.
Thank you, for being light.
You are so right. We need light, too. I think I maybe see hope as the light. And thank you for your last sentence :)
I think the 3 things you listed apply to all of us...not just writers. Thank you for this...I always wonder if the heart is an acknowledgment of the writing, or an agreement with the writer or that you like the content. When it's a difficult topic I tend to hesitate to heart...but I come to use the heart as a sending of my gratitude to the writer. For taking the time to share their thoughts with me. So thank you. It's a difficult time (even watching from Canada).
Good point, I sometimes forget not everyone here is writing. It's so interesting how we all define what the heart mean, isn't it? I tend to see it as a thanks to the writer, but not everyone does. Some take it very literally. (I'm in Canada, too!)
I use several pillows for soft landings: a good novel and a cup of chai tea, a walk outside, no matter the weather, and my garden.
I read the awful because I believe it is my obligation to be informed. But I take it in bits and pieces.
My son has abandoned the world as it is. He does not engage with the news, has lost all hope for the US, and is instead planning his European travels and digital nomad stays.
Who is on the right path? I suspect he sleeps better than I do.
God, Sue. Boy, do I hear you. My sister will not listen to any news. I try to take it in bits and pieces, too. But I suspect she sleeps better than I do, too
As I slowly reveal the twisty path into my own future, I find I need to keep my focus on compassion. For me, music is the sum of all wisdom, where I find shelter, comfort, all the things. I was an accomplished musician once, but foolishly turned from that path, and now finding my way back. Mostly through writing (about music), but also taking up a new instrument (violin) and I've (re)discovered compassion that I had misplaced over years of an unwanted life. I'm taken with your list, thanks for putting it out there today.
I'm so glad you found your way back to music, Scott. That's the absolutely best part of your whole comment. And thank you very much for your last sentence :)
If there ever was a perfect example of people forming an opinion before seeing the facts this is it.
I
How so? What did I miss?
Before we knew a name, or heard from a witness, or even a start of an investigation into what happened the administration told us what to conclude.
Ohhhh, I follow. You are so right. I watched a video this morning where they slowed the video down frame by frame. It was so sad. The administration said what they did because there's only one scenario in which ICE is permitted to fire on a civilian and it's the one they pretended happened. They're trying to cover themselves legally
All three of these things, plus more paid subscriptions so we can live a little!!
Omg, right? Boy, that's the truth. I turned on payments because I was thinking I can't keep spending this much time here free, I have bills to pay. But wow, it's hard earning a living writing. Cripes.
I try, but not hard enough, to stay away from the news. I don't need the negativity. But more than that, I can't do anything about it. If I say something, it won't matter. If I repeat it, one more person might be exposed to it. As long as sensational news sells, we'll get it.
Boy, I hear you on that. I try really hard to balance the negative with positive. I should be sharing the positive more, too, I think
Hey Linda! I'm trying to parse out what the three things are. Unlike Diana van Eyk, I can't seem to clearly identify them: reliable news sources? A soft cushion? Good titles? I think Renee Good is all over our newsfeeds because she's like the kindergarten room mother that many people who read and watch the news can identify with––if it happened to her, it can happen to any one of usl The brown-skinned man not so much: immigrant, male - even the brown-skinned woman screaming that she's a citizen as they handcuff her and drag her away wasn't as shocking to the mainstream white middle class as Renee Good (notice I'm not saying that it justifies her getting more attention). But also there comes a time when the horribleness and cruelty and outrageousness of what has become of us as a nation reaches critical mass and all lights start to shine their beams on the problem and stop glossing over it. And George Floyd and brown-skinned man and woman and Trayvon Martin and Rodney King and countless others have all contributed to our reaching critical mass. Perhaps Renee Good is the tipping point. Let's hope that the time has comel
I hope she is a tipping point, Patricia. We could sure use one.
And for a little lift, read Anne Lamott today - Hallelujah Anyway - A Bad Week
hallelujah anyway
I will go check out her post. I could sure use a little lift today
Honestly, I didn't know for the longest time that Renee Good was white. I think only last night I found out. This whole time I assumed she was black because the corner where George Floyd was murdered is somewhere around there too.
I try not to look at everything through a racial identity lens. The shocking part about what happened to Renee is 1. eye witnesses with their cameras who caught the murder from several angles, 2. that she was fleeing and did not represent a threat, and 3. the Orwellian lying associated with it. Personally, when I saw the clip where the guy just extended his arm and fired into the car at the person inside who I had heard before was shot in the head, it was clear to me that this was basically an execution. It's the most chilling thing I ever saw, reminiscent of the scene a few months ago when ICE agents on a roof shot pepper balls at a priest's head who was praying in the street.
I'm glad you said that because I didn't know she was white until the photos started showing up on Notes either. The really chilling thing is that they have to lie about it because ICE agents are not legally permitted to fire unless their lives are in danger. They've killed 2 and used the same lie each time. Video contradicted that in both
Chilling?
The audio captures the fuckwit shooter immediately after killing her say, "Fucking bitch!"
That's the individual, the organization, and the tyrannical murderous regime that we're dealing with.
Yet most people just keep on shopping...
Writers who hang onto love, compassion and hope are vital today. It’s easy to write about darkness when you’re swimming in it. Harder to see light and share it from within cultural fear. There’s no work around for this imo. No pill. No short-cut. Today is about choosing and sharing light. It will be for the foreseeable future as fearful systems and doctrines unravel to make way for better options.
I like that a lot, Kathy
Yes! Vision, hope, and a soft landing place, what a help that trio is. Thanks for pointing to those crucial elements. As you and Didion, I too write to work through what I think. I appreciate your tackling of tough times and daily challenges in your posts.
Aww, thank you Virginia.
Great article and so many great comments. I think it is absolutely possible to be horrified, sad, enraged, and bereft at the murder of Renee Good and also be horrified, sad, enraged, and bereft at every other murder of an individual by ICE. I also think that we do not diminish one murder by pointing out the added injustice of the lack of media attention on all the other murders. As a factual matter, I do not know why the others have not received the same attention. I am not sure if there is as much bystander video footage of the others like there is with Ms. Good's, and quite frankly, I'm not going to search for it, because I don't want to see it if it exists. But I can make what I feel is a pretty safe assumption that at least part of the difference in media treatment (and therefore public outrage) is racial. And I say this as a white woman, but let's face it, racism and prejudice exists in this country (to an even greater degree than we likely realized prior to 2016), and the media is and always had been dominated by white people (primarily men). There is an undeniable bias, and it has been exacerbated in the past year by a regime that has managed to get all the (whatever you want to call it - mainstream, legacy, etc.) media to bend the knee and become some version of state-run media. And I also like to deal in facts, but sadly reliable facts are becoming harder and harder to come with every passing day. An that is truly tragic! Thank you to Linda and this community though for being a bit of that soft padding we all need these days! Even when the topic is difficult, your writing brings beauty into my life, Linda.
Audra your last sentence darn near made me cry. I just have no capacity for vitriol at all and it's really nice that you see me. Thank you
I hear you. I also know exactly what you mean about writing to find out what you think. Though sometimes it leaves me none the wiser.
Over here in Victoria, Australia, the fires on the horizon are literal rather than figurative. Sixty bushfires at the last count, most of them burning out of control, some of them huge.
I remember the eerie dread of our Black Summer. When the sun didn't shine for weeks because of the fires 400 km away in the mountains. Then, a couple of months later, COVID arrived on our shores.
Some may disagree, but I reckon we still have a largely intact, largely functional democracy here in Australia. We have systemic problems aplenty (like a piss-weak response to the climate change that's burning our country). Some terrible things happen, Bondi for one thing. Then everyone starts squabbling over what it means and what to do about it. Civil discourse falters, becomes bad tempered and polarised. But most of us feel safe around each other, most of the time, I think. (Do I think that? Or is it just my privilege?)
What's happening in the USA scares the living shit out of me. Part of me would rather not know. I can't read the babblings of that tangerine monster any more. Can't look at his face. The way he treated Zelenskyy made me feel physically sick.
When I came to Substack 4 years ago I decided it was going to be my safe place, my happy place. Where I don't get embroiled in all the arguments like I did on Quora, on Twitter, on the news websites. I just came here to write gentle, positive, whimsical fiction. Not deal with the stuff that was making me ill.
I still tend to feel that. We don't have to do all the things, be all things, all the time, in all our spaces. So the couple of political Substacks I've signed up to are baby steps. We'll see how that goes.
But thank you for tackling the hard stuff, and still being kind.
I hear you Steve. Ever since that clip with Trump and Zelenskyy I have not been able to watch Trump. Can't do it. Don't want to hear his voice. I'm in Canada and much of what you say about Australia I'd also say about here. So much of last summer with air we couldn't breathe because of fires, but mostly a functional democracy. It's sure hard to be the neighbor watching over the fence and hurting for what I see. And thank you so much for your last sentence. I do so try to be kind, and it feels nice to have that seen