Had a full-on existential crisis today. I was panicking this morning. I’ve been feeling helpless and terrified about what’s going on right now. So I worked through some of that and tried to channel it into something productive.

That resulted in me protesting solo outside today for 3 hours this evening. I was initially hesitant to do this, but I have to tell you that protesting by yourself can be incredibly energizing and liberating. My thesis is that we often think of protests as just a way of lobbying our representatives, but at this point we need to be lobbying our neighbors to raise awareness of what’s going on! So many people came up to engage with me and I found it a very positive experience. We are not alone, and other people feel just as terrified as you and I.

Don’t wait for permission to protest. Don’t wait for someone else to organize you. Don’t wait for the next big mass action. Just do yourself a favor and make a sign, pick a spot, and stand there. Right now. Talk to people. Clue them into this madness. The media isn’t going to do it for us. Our leaders aren’t going to save us. We have to do this work ourselves.