Welcome to Substack, Tori! Great timing! I hope 2025 is the year long-form takes back the crown from short-form, whatever the outcome of the TikTok ban may be. Glad to have you here and excited to witness your writing journey 💜
Thank you for writing this, Tori! i’m so happy to see the dialectic between regulation:dysregulation and the individual:collective being discussed. We owe it to ourselves to care for our minds and bodies so that our spirits can be ready to move toward a great upheaval. There’s no separation between our systems and our health. System complexity is a great foundation for understanding what’s coming and also what we can do about it. i’m excited to read what you post next! ♥️⚛️
So glad to have you on Substack, Tori. I look forward to seeing your longform musings here. Have been doomscrolling since morning waking up to seeing the image of burning palms in front of a McDonald's. I don't feel so good today, but I believe the self-awareness of being quasi-hypocrite in a burning world is better than the proverbial ostrich. My friend in LA just put her cat in a shelter. Good to have you here.
I loved this so much and it’s exactly what I needed to read this morning. I attended a climate support group last night and shared my feelings of despair and nihilism, and sharing this with likeminded activists allowed me to be held accountable to the responsibility I have to my community to keep going. I wondered how you deal with these feelings of despair (which also contribute to neoliberalism capitalism and individualism) in line with how you discuss regulation? Thank you for all of the work you do ❤️
Thank you so much for sharing this with me Anna - solidarity, I really feel the emotions that you're talking about!
I was recently invited to speak about hope and faith at the Women's Environmental Network and Women's Interfaith Network. I was a shell of a human that day, completely consumed by the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and knowing full well that our dollars were going into the military industrial complex (the US military is the single biggest industrial emitter). I had previously written a speech all about the need to find faith in the wins, no matter how big or small, but in the spirit of keeping the faith I was brutally honest. I lamented over how broken I felt but equally so how in being honest, it allowed me to really connect with this work on a deeper level. One that would lovely allow me to become more resilient and fight back with a sort of tempered realism.
Your honesty is a gift and is a sign that you care and feel so deeply for what we are experiencing. It is reminder that grief has its place in our movements - hope and love alone through an overly optimistic lens can be a disservice.
I find that in my grieving comes the most profound reflections on my activism. Only through truly embracing it am I able to mobilise in a way that fights for a better future.
Despair for me is a different breed, it's the kind of emotion that falls prey to nihilism, believing that nothing we do matters and in many ways signifies a lack of care. It can happen to us all but I think we can transform it by really acknowledging the grief, staring it in the face before it manifests into despair. I hope this helps and good luck!
I’m a new follower of yours, and reading this brought me so much comfort as an LA resident currently experiencing fires while also being new to the climate space. I am grateful that you so precisely and eloquently put words to little nudges of feelings I’ve been having that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I look forward to reading more!!
Oh Ria my heart goes out to you 💚 thank you for being here and I hope you and your loved ones are safe. What’s remarkable to me is through the dysregulation I’m seeing so many people come together to support one another. These are the communities most resilient to the climate crisis. I hope you are supported 🫂
Oh, when the parallel universes and wavelengths align. What a way to start some whirlwinds in intentional regulation. Also matcha (hot) paging journaling piecing. Endless appreciation for the enamour in magical hand-clasping souls and minds amidst the interconnected burning states of our worlds. Big love 🤎 ( this is the first time you’re seeing this )
Welcome to Substack, Tori! Great timing! I hope 2025 is the year long-form takes back the crown from short-form, whatever the outcome of the TikTok ban may be. Glad to have you here and excited to witness your writing journey 💜
Thank you for writing this, Tori! i’m so happy to see the dialectic between regulation:dysregulation and the individual:collective being discussed. We owe it to ourselves to care for our minds and bodies so that our spirits can be ready to move toward a great upheaval. There’s no separation between our systems and our health. System complexity is a great foundation for understanding what’s coming and also what we can do about it. i’m excited to read what you post next! ♥️⚛️
So glad to have you on Substack, Tori. I look forward to seeing your longform musings here. Have been doomscrolling since morning waking up to seeing the image of burning palms in front of a McDonald's. I don't feel so good today, but I believe the self-awareness of being quasi-hypocrite in a burning world is better than the proverbial ostrich. My friend in LA just put her cat in a shelter. Good to have you here.
I loved this so much and it’s exactly what I needed to read this morning. I attended a climate support group last night and shared my feelings of despair and nihilism, and sharing this with likeminded activists allowed me to be held accountable to the responsibility I have to my community to keep going. I wondered how you deal with these feelings of despair (which also contribute to neoliberalism capitalism and individualism) in line with how you discuss regulation? Thank you for all of the work you do ❤️
Thank you so much for sharing this with me Anna - solidarity, I really feel the emotions that you're talking about!
I was recently invited to speak about hope and faith at the Women's Environmental Network and Women's Interfaith Network. I was a shell of a human that day, completely consumed by the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and knowing full well that our dollars were going into the military industrial complex (the US military is the single biggest industrial emitter). I had previously written a speech all about the need to find faith in the wins, no matter how big or small, but in the spirit of keeping the faith I was brutally honest. I lamented over how broken I felt but equally so how in being honest, it allowed me to really connect with this work on a deeper level. One that would lovely allow me to become more resilient and fight back with a sort of tempered realism.
Your honesty is a gift and is a sign that you care and feel so deeply for what we are experiencing. It is reminder that grief has its place in our movements - hope and love alone through an overly optimistic lens can be a disservice.
I find that in my grieving comes the most profound reflections on my activism. Only through truly embracing it am I able to mobilise in a way that fights for a better future.
Despair for me is a different breed, it's the kind of emotion that falls prey to nihilism, believing that nothing we do matters and in many ways signifies a lack of care. It can happen to us all but I think we can transform it by really acknowledging the grief, staring it in the face before it manifests into despair. I hope this helps and good luck!
Thank you so much for such a helpful and thoughtful reply. Sending you strength and kindness for 2025, look after yourself ❤️❤️
Love this! Looking forward to reading more! I’ve been following your work for a while and you’ve inspired me to do actions of my own. Thank you!
Thank you so much Salma! Really grateful to have you here
I’m a new follower of yours, and reading this brought me so much comfort as an LA resident currently experiencing fires while also being new to the climate space. I am grateful that you so precisely and eloquently put words to little nudges of feelings I’ve been having that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I look forward to reading more!!
Oh Ria my heart goes out to you 💚 thank you for being here and I hope you and your loved ones are safe. What’s remarkable to me is through the dysregulation I’m seeing so many people come together to support one another. These are the communities most resilient to the climate crisis. I hope you are supported 🫂
Oh, when the parallel universes and wavelengths align. What a way to start some whirlwinds in intentional regulation. Also matcha (hot) paging journaling piecing. Endless appreciation for the enamour in magical hand-clasping souls and minds amidst the interconnected burning states of our worlds. Big love 🤎 ( this is the first time you’re seeing this )
So much appreciation for you dear heart and your wonderful magical being! Grateful that the mycelial networks have brought us together 💚
Mega meta mycorrhizal fauna ♥️