Okay, alright, I'll level with you because we're really on the same side, y'know.
All of us can't ignore what's happening, obviously. That would be devastating. We can't all turn away. Of course, there's power in education and in being informed.
But! This is not about everyone in the whole world or country. And, likely, this is not about those with significant political power or financial power. In comparison, it's about a relatively small group of people, those who can't be activists without doing considerable harm to their health. These people from my experience are usually already well-informed and very much so want to help!
Mental health is as important as physical health. I think we can all agree our brain is pretty important, right? Mental disabilities such as severe mood disorders, can be debilitating and deadly. We've already seen suicides hotlines increase more than double since last November. Some people have mental health issues so severe they just can't fully participate in activism like they want to do, and as a result feel like they're failing or that they're bad people or otherwise letting down their communities. This post is for them. It's telling them, "Hey, it's not fair that you're made to feel guilty when you don't currently have the capacity to handle this information like others might be able to. Please survive. Please focus on keeping yourself safe."
The people who are feeling guilty and sacrificing their health often are the minorities in question, which is a BIG problem because those groups are at higher risk of trauma and suicide. The people who need to pull away and keep safe the MOST are often minority groups.
Since November, especially since mid-January, I've been on the front lines handling these mental health crisis situations. Every single suicidal kid I've talked off the ledge these past few months is part of a minority and have been becoming increasingly suicidal because they felt too ashamed to pull away from the onslaught of politics. And I'm telling Tumblr what I told them- if keeping updated isn't something you're able to do without it being detrimental to your health, then your job is just to survive. That's it. Survive to see another day, survive to thrive in a better future.
It's SO HARD for people accept this in themselves, even as they agree with me, that they need to step away from politics, even as they're on the brink of killing themselves, because there's so much ethical obligation to stay informed, so much shame, so much peer pressure. And I've been there! I've pushed myself until literal hospitalization!
I used to say I would rather be dead and informed than alive and ignorant. Then, I realized the dead can't be informed or uninformed. They're dead.
Immediate survival MUST come first. There's no point in activism or fighting for a better future if the people we're fighting for aren't here to see it.
I don't want to say, "Hey, it's okay if you need a break, though really try not to because it's all hands on deck -" I am shouting:
"Hey. It's more important you live. You hear me, motherfuckers? Don't you DARE take risks to your health. Informed in the short term is not as important as you being here in the longterm. I know you're doing your best. You are not a bad person. I see you and I am begging you to take care of yourself."
