If you’re like me, you’ve gone back into outrage overload the last few weeks. Every day seems to arrive with a new level of unreal insanity, of events, news, posts that just aren’t normal at all. What’s real? What isn’t? What’s just meant to be distraction from the real issue at hand? How far will this go. Most of all, my mind keeps asking, “WHAT CAN WE DO???? NO ONE SEEMS TO BE DOING ANYTHING!!” (and yes, my brain is generally screaming that in all caps, with all the exclamation points). It seems bigger this time, too big, messier, more terrifying, and most of all, completely overwhelming.

I don’t watch network news, nor do I watch cable news. I find both are generally incendiary and don’t give enough details and facts. They typically lean one way or the other, which, fine, I’ll admit I have a certain leaning. And as Jen Psaki said recently, the “media has an addiction to viral moments” and “prioritizes a spectacle over substance.” I try to stay out of a self-created echo chamber for the one side, and well, for the other side, I usually just have no words for what’s being said. I turned all news notifications off on all my devices. I do read long-form articles, have a few trusted sources I go to for morning and evening updates. I research and crosscheck, or listen to/read people I know do the work. I guess what I’m saying that while I’m overwhelmed and have no clue what to do, if there’s anything impactful one citizen can do, I do not have my head buried in the sand. I am engaging. I am aware.

There are just so many things, every single day, to get worked up over. Look, I have a daughter, I’m a woman, I have two children who are part of the LGBTQ (yes, please be sure to include the T AND the Q – deleting their representation from websites doesn’t mean they don’t exist, for the love of all that is holy) community. I have neighbors whose children are birthright citizens, terrified their parents are going to be deported at any moment. If not for Medicaid, my mother, post-stroke, would have been homeless and without the care and therapies she required. My oldest and youngest children – both of whom are beyond brilliant, just had/have different needs – relied on 504 plans and the youngest an IEP for most of their educational experiences. Accommodations enabled their academic success. I could go on and on. So where do I even start pushing back on all the crazy-train that has been going on the last 3+ weeks? Every day, sometimes it seems every hour, a new outrage arrives.

I do believe the point is to immobilize and freeze us, overwhelm us into the inability to act. Whatever side of the aisle you fall on, I highly recommend the book, “The Small and the Mighty” by Sharon McMahon. I just finished it this morning, and it was very timely. (I follow her instagram as well – she breaks things down, with evidence and support, in a way that’s easy to understand, all without being condescending). In the conclusion of her book she says, “the weight of the world does not rest on your shoulders alone. Our unique skills, talents, and abilities are meant to be used in ways that only we can.” She goes on to say, “I’d want you to know that you should keep going. That often the biggest breakthroughs happen after the darkest nights.” And lastly, “And it is us, the small and the mighty, who make America great. Not again, but always.” It gave me hope this morning. It made me feel less, well, less.

I suppose my point to all of this being, I can’t let the intentional overwhelm overwhelm me. I need to choose one thing to act upon, one tiny bit of the huge crazy to respond and reply to, apply my specific skills. Some days, that may just be sharing correct information on social media. Some days, that may be coming here to write, vent, share, encourage. Some days, it might mean writing a letter/email to powers that be, or making a phone call to a representative. And then some days, it might mean hiding from it all as a form of self-care when it all gets to be too much.

My bigger point of this being, I refuse to lay down this time. I refuse to keep my mouth shut. I refuse to keep quiet. There are people who cannot fight for themselves. I am determined to fight for them, when and where I can, to stand as an ally, to use the skills I have to help educate, support, and defend. When it seems too big, too much, choose one thing, utilizing your particular skillset, and go with it. It will take the small and the mighty to save us.