Ramblings of a Transgirl

I honestly think that despair at the future has almost always been the case for many many people, though we have obviously had more positive and negative moments. Coming from a positive moment to a (in some ways) very negative one, as we currently are, makes things feel much worse.

Try to remember a couple of things:
1. We are doing wildly better for the vast majority of folks than even 100 years ago, let alone 2000 or before then. Societal progress generally moves forward, but takes time, as much as that is a reason to sob incoherently on a regular basis. >.<
2. Remember that the United States is not the world, and that other parts of the world (large parts of Europe) are way better and we're just lagging.
3. Remember that when we've gone through particularly bad times before (and now), people do stand up and put a stop to it eventually. (I hate to qualify with that word, but it's true.)

Per #3, I offer the following:
1. They Thought They Were Free by Milton Sanford Mayer (large swastika on the cover, be warned). "This is probably one of the most important books I've ever read as far as shaping my world view. It tells the story of a Jewish journalist who traveled to Germany after World War II to find out why what had happened had happened. My therapist actually picked up a copy of this one, and she liked it too. Hard read, but very topical, and I highly recommend it." This basically gave me hope for the future because if nothing else the folks trying to do it again are incompetent as fuck compared to the people who tried this last time.
2. Crime in the US is dropping. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/people-think-crime-rate-up-actually-down-rcna129585
3. Though it will not matter in the end, folks are standing up to the current ex-president, be they judges, lawyers, prosecutors, etc... People care.
4. Video from a few years ago that will make you cry. <3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKC8saQPro

And yes, I realize there's a lot of terrible stuff happening too. I'm trans and fully aware of what states are doing to us and our kids right now, let alone the other political cruelty. It is 100% okay to cry and collapse for a while, but picking yourself back up is important, because if you get lost in that, though, you won't be able to help yourself or anyone else. <3

Stories to make you believe in the future again:

• Crime Rate is Dropping in the US
• CRISPR Therapy for Sickle Cell
• ‘It’s all gone’: CAR-T therapy forces autoimmune diseases into remission
• (Requires account) 81 Things That Blew Our Minds in 2023
• Vaccine breakthrough means no more chasing strains
• Cameroon starts world-first malaria mass vaccine rollout
• HPV vaccine study finds zero cases of cervical cancer among women vaccinated before age 14
• HIV cure breakthrough as virus eliminated from cells in laboratory
• CA Generates 100% of its energy from renewables for 25 out of the last 32 days (2024)
• Biden Administration Applies Title IX to Protect Trans Students
• Conservative co-sponsors abandon their own bill after gay politician’s powerful speech
• FTC Bans Non-compete Agreements

It's hard and near impossible
to live without being seen,
and yet we must live on and cry
and weep for shattered dreams.

For dreams we had, for dreams undone,
for dreams we hoped for ruined,
we cannot help but rent our hearts
where absent chasm's chewing.

It hurts so bad to be unseen,
to be forever lost;
it hurts so bad, invisible,
they do not bear our cross.

And yet we will prevail one day.
Our day is coming soon,
where rainbow wings will fly us high
'bove red-gold autumn bloom.

[Originally posted on Blogger!]

I was reading this post earlier today and wanted to say that I kind of felt the same way a lot recently.  There are just so many terrible things happening that you *have* to separate yourself from them in at least some manner in order to remain functional, but complete isolation leads to a failure to understand actual solutions.  I'm not entirely sure what to do about a lot of these wicked problems either, but I'm starting to work on ideas...  Some of those involve speaking out, others working on technological solutions to help with problems like verifiable voting and true community building.  Posts will follow as I start to develop a few of those.

Now, as for things that brighten the day.  MCA Hogarth's Dream Healers duology is absolutely wonderful.  It provided the source of inspiration I used to make it through this last week house hunting, and beyond that, it made me rethink a lot of things in my own life.  The first time I read Mindtouch, a little more than a year ago, I was actually in the middle of falling in love myself, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.   Due to life constraints, I'm only now starting on the second of the two, and you can expect a review when I do complete it.  ^^