Inauguration Day counterprogramming
Let's talk about today
This Saturday, after a long morning of Zoom meetings. I logged off my computer, put my face in my hands, and sobbed.
I am not a crier. I am my father’s daughter, as such I have a Boomer man’s awareness of my emotional state1. So it took me all day and a very nice dinner with some friends that night, to unpack why I was fully melting down.
Beyond all the normal things — co-parenting with someone who bought cupcakes for our kids to celebrate the inauguration of Trump; having a teen daughter, and this is the peak of competitive swim season; worrying about my next book and publishing instability; worrying about this newsletter under a Trump administration and the downward trend of subscriptions — I was also stressed about the future here in Iowa, raising two kids in this state governed by shitposting grievance politics, fear for my queer and trans friends, fear for my communities.