Late November

An update

I don’t really want to write about the state of the world. It’s not that I deny the gravity of what’s happening, but there are enough people doing the vital job of making sure that people have access to the truth. I’m just over here trying to live my own life, and occasionally tell people what’s going on in it, possibly to find other people who can relate.

I’ve been trying to protect my own peace. Lately I find myself instinctively navigating away from websites as soon as they get bogged down with news and commentary about the incoming American regime. It’s not going to make me feel better to obsessively pore over the decisions made by a would-be dictator given to babbling incoherently during speeches or the latest attempt by a too-powerful but not-too-bright billionaire to look “cool”. I just want to find out what’s happening and what the people I like are thinking; seeing people’s faces and their own words gives me a boost.

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I’m currently reading A Well-Trained Wife by

Tia Levings

, who writes a great newsletter on here called

The Anti-Fundamentalist

. The book is about her experiences in and eventual escape from Christian patriarchy. Even though I wasn’t completely immersed in that world, it was adjacent enough for a lot of the unspoken rules and ideas to be a little too familiar, particularly the stuff about self-policing thoughts and influences.

When I was younger I used to feel like there were only a few paths I was actively encouraged to be on; I may not have been in a household as strict as others (especially those in high-control religion), but it never really felt like it was my life to live until I was well into my 30s.

I now realize that the idea of a life with no real autonomy or agency is just something that is so repellent to me on a basic level. If that makes me “strong-willed”, so be it.

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It’s not Thanksgiving in Canada (we celebrate it in October), but I do have a three day weekend thanks to it being my short week at work. It will probably be my usual long weekend routine of resting all Friday and trying to use Saturday and Sunday to do things I enjoy or need to get done. Nothing too exciting.

I admit I wanted to publish this newsletter as an excuse to use this song.