Hugh Hollowell

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When things don’t make sense

This essay published October 28, 2019

I wish I knew something pastoral to say when it feels like the world is crumbling around you, but I don’t. At least not anything I haven’t said before.

Stay hydrated. Get plenty of sleep. No, more sleep than that. Eat good food, and preferably with people you care about.

Don’t let them steal your humanity – look for opportunities to help others, even if on the smallest of scales. Find the humor where you can, and laugh as much as you can.

Check in with your vulnerable friends. If you don’t have any vulnerable friends, please work to fix that.

In the midst of powerlessness, search for things you can still control, and do that.

Remember that the current administration is over in a bit more than a year, but the repercussions will last for a generation at least. Which is to say, it is a marathon, and there will be lots of work to do for the next 25 years or so. So feel everything you need to, but don’t stay there, because we have many years of work to do, and we need you in the fight.

Love wins in the end. And if it seems like love didn’t win, it’s only because it isn’t the end.

Don’t give up, and don’t give in. And love each other really, really hard.

HH

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Filed Under: Self-care, World-change

Hugh Hollowell is a writer and speaker based in Jackson, MS. His writings have appeared in, among other places, The Washington Post, Sojourners, and Ethics Daily. He only publishes here sporadically, but does publish a weekly newsletter. Some people like it.

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