Giving Up On Giving Up: Check-in Post #1

[nanila]

Hello Fine Crew Members,
How are you doing on your Giving Up On Giving Up?

The only thing I'm managing to do every day is force myself to read the news. Possibly this doesn't sound like much, but I desperately want to bury my head in the sand on so many issues, including Trump, Eastern Ghouta, Brexit, the list goes on. So for me, opening up the Guardian Roundup and the Economist Espresso every day, gritting my teeth and reading them, is a triumph over inertia.

Here's hoping you've had some successes, however small, as well!

Comments

[elucidate_this]

I've been working on the social justice presentations I'm doing during staff meetings. The first one is today and I'm SUPER nervous. I'll be talking about inclusive language.

Nanila, reading the paper is such a success. I struggle to engage in that way.

[tanaqui]

The presentations sound like a fantastic way to make a difference. Here's sending you good wishes for the first one to go well! (And all the rest!)

[nanila]

Oh wow, go you for taking that on! I hope this, and subsequent presentations, go well.

Thank you. I often wonder if it is doing any good to try to stay informed, but I seem find myself writing better and more frequent letters to my elected officials, so it must be at least somewhat motivational that way.

[minoanmiss]

I am cheering you on so, so much! THANK YOU for doing this!

[tanaqui]

Nanila - well done for staying informed when there's so much depressing news. There are days when I just want to stick my head back under the blankets, too.

[nanila]

Thank you. Yes, it's hard work keeping up. It seems so much positive, hard-won progress in the world is taking a terrible battering at the moment.

[monanotlisa]

I do read the news, and give a money, and go to marches whenever I can. I think my wife alone counted her contributions last year at 5,000 USD. I must have a similar amount in donations to political causes...and just pray it's enough. Probably not. But it's hard for an immigrant barred from actually entering the political process.

[nanila]

Well done to you and your wife for doing what you can. That's a remarkable amount of money and effort.

Sympathies on being barred from entering the political process. I spent nine years in the UK before I could vote here, and I felt that keenly for every moment.

[conuly]

I spend so much time on the news. I often feel like this guy.

But I've been trying to work on remembering to contact my congresscritters etc. about issues. Even if do it by c+p emails, it's better than nothing.

[nanila]

Go you for remembering to contact your elected officials. I often use c&p e-mails. Sometimes I use them as boilerplates; when I have a bit more energy I use them as a springboard and personalise them.

[redbird]

I try to personalize them at least a little; sometimes that's just going through thinking of it as a copyediting task, because I almost always want to change bits when I do that. (In this case, I actively don't want to preserve the original writer's voice, so can change more.)

[tassosss]

This is a good reminder that I've been meaning to contact my congress peeps about gun control stuff. It's not a huge difference - blue state here - but to let them know that it matters.

On a daily basis, I keep up with the news, which is a heavy lift some days. Solidarity there.

[nanila]

Positive reinforcement is often underrated. I salute you for your intention to support your blue-state representatives.

Kept up with news again today. I am on tenterhooks about what (if any) difference Trump's sudden support for background checks will have on the upcoming battle to push through some meaningful legislation on said topic.