What the world needs now is fewer people telling us how to fix things and more people reaching out to say, “the struggle is real, but we’re in this together.”

Perfectionism as Learning Towards Utopia Recently I proofread the novel I have been working on for the past five and a half years.

open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

You have so many stories to tell. Your life is rich. Please put them into the world.

The Secret Trick to Creative Output This might surprise you!

open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

Declaring we want to live a different life, unbound by the constraints of a “job” is just the beginning. There’s also the work of being able to sustain these beautiful new lives

This is the beginning of a revolution. But there’s a big question: how do we build a world that supports this creative revolution? How do we eat and keep roofs over our head? How do we get healthcare? How do we (if we choose to) raise children who will thrive?.

In the material and virtual worlds, I see so many pockets of creativity popping up. I see communities forming around art. I see people declaring “I don’t want a job.” Not because they are “lazy”, but because we want a healthy life that does not extract our souls, but rather nourishes them.

I am not a singer. I don’t sing in the shower or while doing chores. (I write in my head.) I have no idea where this song or this singing came from. But it changed my day. It gave me hope and faith that we will persist and improve things. These are small blessings

Small blessings. I was off this morning. The well-founded anxieties were really getting me down. I dreaded the day. Without intending to, or even being aware of it, or really knowing the lyrics, I started singing “a few of my favorite things” from the sound of music..

Why things aren't random. Who I am and why I'm here now.

open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

Wishing You a Dreadful Christmas On joy in difficult times.

open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

Thrilled to see my short story, “Bill Gates Wants to Take You to America” published in the recent issue of The Rappahanock Review along with an author interview. rappahannockreview.com/issue-13-1/c...

The latest Open Access volume of Migration and Society has been published!: bit.ly/4mbOY7L

Featuring research by: @malayfiroz.bsky.social @jenri.bsky.social @ernabodstrom.bsky.social @jesperbjarnesen.bsky.social @djamilak.bsky.social @suzan-ilcan.bsky.social and more!

This. Exactly. The legal battles are being fought. But it won’t be enough.

If we act like everything is normal, we go into denial, evade, get complacent, and don’t do the hard work that is needed to survive, protect and resist. 3/3

This is the paradox we’re living in. This is the paradox we need to adjust to, psychologically and socially. don’t have some normal, we become exhausted, panicked, or catatonic, and carry our festering wounds around with us. 2/3

It’s important to have normal times where you watch tv, hang with friends and family, make dinner, walk the dog, take out the trash, talk about the weather and watch the big game. It is also important not to lose sight of the fact that nothing is normal and we’re in the middle of a coup. 1/3

A reminder that it is not your responsible as a citizen to obsess over the news or emotionally collapse from imagining the suffering. It IS your responsibility make yourself as strong as you can (whatever that looks like for you) and to DO whatever you are capable of to resist and protect.

Elon Musk’s team has gotten access to the Treasury Department’s payments system.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave reps of DOGE full access to the federal payment system late on Friday, handing Elon Musk and the team he is leading a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

This is going to be a fight on many fronts. But there will be moments when we all need to drop everything, cancel plans, take risks, and come together. (3/3)

We ALSO need to focus on the big picture, recognize that democracy is being dismantled, checks and balances are removed daily, and there may not be a 2028 election.
SO take all the advice. ALSO read about how democracies are destroyed, join organizing groups, and prepare yourself to disrupt. (2/3)

There’s a lot of great advice going around about pacing ourselves, and focusing on a few issues rather than taking it all in, and working locally in your own communities. This is good advice now as it was in 2016. BUT this is also different than the last time. (1/3)

I wish there was an easy way to make a starter pack of everyone I knew from other social media who has moved over here….

When an authoritarian regime consolidates power, it is deeply unsettling. The fabric of reality is shaken. It makes it hard to remain standing. That’s what you may be experiencing right now.

A screenshot of a Politico Pro Breaking News Alert headline. The headline reads, "Trump administration orders sweeping freeze of all federal aid." The subhead explains that the freeze, ordered by President Trump's budget office, suspends all federal financial assistance, potentially halting payments to states and U.S. households relying on aid such as SNAP food assistance. A memo cited claims that Social Security and Medicare will not be affected. The memo includes a statement criticizing the use of federal resources for "Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies," calling it a misuse of taxpayer dollars. Three people verified the memo's authenticity.

Pay. Attention. To. This AND CALL YOUR REPS.

U.S. puts virtually all foreign aid on 90-day hold, issues 'stop-work' order Following Trump's Monday freeze on foreign aid, a subsequent memo calls for for a stop-work order for current grants and contracts.

www.npr.org/sections/goa...

White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion The Trump administration has put a hold on all federal financial grants and loans, affecting tens of billions of dollars in payments.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

For all of you starting a new semester today, may you approach it with ease, curiosity, and compassion for yourself and everyone involved. Sidle up to it, like you would a wild animal you don’t want to startle.

I’ve come to love teaching this way. Just started last semester. But I’ve also been struck by how much students struggle with it. The trauma—around writing in particular and education in general—that they bring into the classroom is astounding.