I wanted to share something briefly. While I appear to be a very online person, I’m actually quite selective about what I share—despite the number of paper mâché pig montage videos you may have seen.
Years ago, I made a personal decision: I want to remain awake in my life—even in dark times. I’ve had too many near-death encounters, too many sliding door moments, too many ways the invisible hand of the universe caught me by the ponytail and changed my trajectory. It’s a gift to be hypersensitive, to be absorbed by the world. It’s a gift to have creative energy and to know how to channel it into something spiritually generative—and fun. But it comes with drawbacks. Over time, I’ve had to teach myself emotional discipline and develop a kind of hygiene to stay sane.
Still, I’ll admit: I go through seasons where I turn off my receptors and emotionally hibernate. I fall back into coping mechanisms—some arguably healthy, some not. I overwork, over-obsess, disappear into safe portals of my imagination as a distraction from reality. I take breaks from hard news because I feel numb to it all. But when I shut down, I also get depressed. And when I shut down, I start to intellectualize my anger and grief—burying it under abstraction and existential musings.
Living in your head instead of your body or emotions can make you feel safe. But it prevents you from organizing. You can logic your way into staying comfortable. And that’s exactly what oppressive systems count on—that those of us who feel relatively safe and not yet inconvenienced will be the last to resist authoritarianism.
There’s a point where protecting our mental health by shutting out the world begins to erode our humanity. To maintain our humanity, we must bear witness. Yes, compassion can be found in beauty—but our deepest wells of compassion often come from grief, from heartbreak, from the choice to extend our hearts to others.
I’m not advocating for anyone to be ravaged by horrifying news consumption. But I do think we need a better framework—something closer to disaster preparedness. A way to approach devastating information with clear steps: What do I do when I see this? How do I stay grounded while staying present? How do I protect my peace without dulling my conscience?
Right now, I’m being careful about how I express myself online—not only because I don’t want to jar someone who’s casually scrolling, but because, as fascism spreads, so will surveillance. There will be lists. There will be consequences for digital affinities and keywords.
And yet—some things must be seen. Everyone should see the photos of CECOT in El Salvador. Everyone should see the images of genocide, of the destruction of innocent people on occupied land. Everyone should see footage of an innocent grad student abducted by ICE. These lives deserve to be known. Their pain deserves to be held in our hearts and our memories. And maybe it’s in that act of holding—of truly witnessing—that we unlock the protective instincts that push us toward action.
I’m really grappling with what it means to be “awake” in my life. I think it means being vigilant for others. I think it means resisting the urge to look away. But I’m still figuring out what that looks like in practice. I’m writing this more as a question than a declaration: how do I stay awake, bear witness, and do something?
Calling representatives. Peaceful protest. Cutting off consumerism to whittle away at the oligarchs. Knowing your rights. Funding nonprofits. Organizing locally. Will any of it help? Maybe. Eventually. En masse, yes.
Sometimes I think the most radical thing I can do is be a good neighbor. Stay informed. Stay awake. Stay ready for whatever is being thrown our way.
I’m literally asking—what is there to do?
I want to know what else there is to do.
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ChatGPT prompt: Based on this diary energy, give me 5 poems, 5 books, 5 articles I should read on resisting authoritarianism.
Answer:
POEMS
Based on the themes in your diary (emotional vigilance, witnessing suffering, the fragility of democracy, and the desire to remain awake and compassionate in dark times), here are five poems that can help you process these feelings, ground your spirit, and expand your imagination for resistance and care:
“A Brief for the Defense” by Jack Gilbert
“We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world.”
Why: This poem speaks directly to your tension between bearing witness to horror and remaining spiritually and sensually alive. Gilbert insists on joy not as escapism, but as defiance.
“What They Did Yesterday Afternoon” by Warsan Shire
“later that night
I held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”
Why: This poem honors grief on a global scale. Like your journal, it asks: how do we carry the weight of others’ pain? It doesn’t look away.
“won’t you celebrate with me” by Lucille Clifton
“come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.”
Why: It’s a triumphant poem of survival, of remaining awake and alive despite systems designed to silence. A powerful reminder that your vigilance is already a form of resistance.
4.“Instructions on Not Giving Up” by Ada Limón
“More than the fuchsia funnels breaking out of the crabapple tree,
more than the neighbor’s almost obscene display of cherry limbs
shoving their cotton-candy-colored blossoms to the slate sky of Spring rains,
it’s the greening of the trees that really gets to me.”
Why: When numbness threatens, this poem reminds you that returning to life—slowly, tenderly—is its own miracle. Its beauty comes from simplicity, persistence, and the ache of staying present.
“Poem for the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, an Intelligent, Well-Read Person, Could Believe in the War Between Races” by Lorna Dee Cervantes
“I am a poet
who yearns to dance on rooftops,
to whisper delicate lines about joy
and the blessings of human understanding.
I try. I go to my land, my father’s land,
my mother’s land, again and again.
I see a war.”
Why: This poem reflects your conflict: the desire to live a beautiful life and the unavoidable pull toward witnessing and truth-telling. It lives in the duality you’re navigating—longing and resistance.
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BOOKS
Absolutely. Based on the spirit and introspection in your diary entry—your desire to remain emotionally awake, ethically present, and actively engaged—here are five books that explore resistance to authoritarianism through political, emotional, and practical lenses:
1.On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
A slim but potent guide that distills historical lessons into direct, actionable insights for resisting authoritarianism. Snyder, a historian of the Holocaust and totalitarianism, outlines how small personal choices contribute to larger collective outcomes.
Why you’ll love it:
It honors your intuition that the erosion of freedom is subtle—and that resistance begins with how we speak, where we stand, and what we choose to witness.
2.Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit
This lyrical, deeply human meditation on activism argues that hope is not naïve—it’s a choice. Solnit weaves history, memory, and protest into a guide for remaining emotionally awake and politically engaged, even when the future feels bleak.
Why you’ll love it:
It matches your emotional depth and belief in creative energy as a spiritual and activist force.
3.How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley
A clear-eyed look at the psychological and rhetorical tools authoritarian leaders use to gain and maintain power. Stanley breaks down propaganda, scapegoating, and “nostalgia politics” in a way that’s incredibly timely and accessible.
Why you’ll love it:
It gives shape to the feelings you’re already naming—like numbness, deflection, and the creeping normalization of darkness.
This Is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt Is Shaping the Twenty-First Century by Mark Engler and Paul Engler
A strategic, deeply researched look at civil resistance, social movements, and how change actually happens. It combines theory with real-world examples from recent history.
Why you’ll love it:
It meets your yearning for action with real tactics and helps answer your question: What is there to do?
They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933–45 by Milton Mayer
An unsettling, intimate portrait of how ordinary people in Nazi Germany rationalized or ignored the rise of fascism. The book focuses on the slow, almost imperceptible descent into complicity.
Why you’ll love it:
It echoes your reflections on comfort and privilege—and how silence can be a kind of participation.
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ARTICLES
🛡️ Resisting Authoritarianism & Civic Engagement
1. So You Want to Be a Dissident? – The New Yorker (April 2025)
This essay examines the rise of “competitive authoritarianism” in the U.S., highlighting how institutional control is used to stifle opposition while maintaining a façade of democracy. It emphasizes the importance of mass mobilizations, creative protest tactics, and grassroots trainings to navigate risks and assert rights.
2. The Path to American Authoritarianism – Foreign Affairs (March/April 2025)
Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way analyze how democratic institutions can erode under authoritarian pressures, drawing parallels between the U.S. and regimes like Hungary and Russia. They stress the need for proactive defense of democratic norms.
3. Resisting Authoritarianism: Lessons from Arkansas – The Forge (December 2024)
Bill Kopsky discusses the importance of multiracial organizing and bold ideas to overcome divisiveness and make progress on core challenges facing Americans, emphasizing local action as a form of resistance.
🧠 Emotional Resilience & Bearing Witness
4. The Mental Health and Emotional Resilience of Young Activists – Empoword Journalism (February 2025)
This article explores how Gen Z activists channel anxiety into social activism, while also facing mental health strains. It underscores the importance of balancing activism with self-care to maintain long-term engagement.
5. Bearing Witness and Creative Activism – Oxford Academic (2023)
An academic exploration of how art in public spaces serves to bear witness to crimes, particularly those not publicly acknowledged. It discusses the role of creative activism in making such atrocities visible and prompting societal reflection.
🌍 Global Perspectives on Authoritarianism
6. Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World – Anne Applebaum (2024)
Applebaum’s book examines how autocratic governments collaborate to increase their power and control, often undermining democratic institutions. It highlights the global nature of authoritarian threats and the need for international solidarity.
7. South Koreans Prove Democracy Can Survive in the Face of Authoritarianism – Truthout (December 2024)
This piece showcases how South Korean activists offer a model for resisting authoritarianism, emphasizing the importance of fighting for democracy at any cost.