Stay Informed, Keep Fighting

If we want to win again, we have to make room for nuance.

Hi there! I am finally back! For now. In two weeks, my family is planning to go on an international trip of a lifetime that we’ve been planning for what feels like FOREVER. It has been one of those rare things - something joyful, something to look forward to. We booked plane tickets and hotel accommodations months ago. I have started to pack. It is supposed to be a time for us to all connect, explore and have fun.

But now, with tensions rising globally and talk of potential war, it does feel like that joy is slipping away. I am trying to shrug it off and tell myself things will be fine. But the truth is that I am anxious. I worry about what could happen - what a war could do to our fellow humans around the globe, but also what it could do to my family’s safety and the trip we have poured so much energy into.

I posted about this the other day on TT and IG and there is a thing that seems to get lost in the chaos of online discourse — more than one thing can be true at once! I can be terrified at the thought of war. I don’t want anyone to suffer. I don’t want lives to be lost or disrupted. I don’t want our military being put in danger, families being ripped apart, of innocent people harmed. That is not even a question. I am a huge empath and a nurse for crying out loud!

I am incredibly angry that this administration is putting all of that at risk. I am frustrated that my family’s stability and joy are once again vulnerable to the reckless decisions made by the people in power here. And I can hold both truths. Most of us can.

But the moment I said any of this out loud on the interwebs — especially the part about being mad that my once in a lifetime vacation might be ruined - the purity police showed up in FULL force. Pelting me with comments about not caring about human life, telling me that I am selfish, and so forth. I reject those.

Being upset about something personal doesn’t mean I have stopped caring about the world. I am a human with many thoughts and feelings. We are complex beings as humans. We hold grief and joy, fear and hope. We contain multitudes!

Obviously receiving this feedback made me very annoyed, and so then I started thinking about it when it comes to politics and party lines. I am going to be brutally honest — if we as the people on the left cannot make space to accept people’s full humanity, then how are we ever going to build a movement big enough to win again?

We cannot continue to police every emotion shared on socials. We cannot treat nuance as betrayal. This is a serious problem on our side of politics right now.

People are very tired. We are burnt out, overwhelmed, and trying to make it to the next day without losing our sanity. We need fewer purity tests and more compassion and understanding for one another. We have had enough with ideological gatekeepers and we need more room for people to speak honestly (within reason - obviously if you’re a white supremacist or something, then we don’t want you in our big tent!).

I want peace in this world. I want a safe world for us all. And I want to go on this trip with my family that we’ve all worked hard to make happen.

And none of that should be controversial.

-Brittney