11 Things That Are Getting Me Through
The world has felt very dark and hard lately. Here are some things that have made it feel a tad easier.
I feel as though I have been in a state of catatonia since October 7th. The Saturday when we woke up to discover that Hamas militants had slaughtered 1,300 Israelis, including the elderly, children, and young people at a music festival, and taken more than 200 hostage. In the days that have followed, there has been more violence, and more civilian death. More than 4,300 Palestinian residents of Gaza have been killed since war broke out, predominantly by the Israeli military, according to Palestinian authorities. For many of us, namely Jews and Palestinians — even in the diaspora — the news feels unbelievably personal, and the stakes feel unbelievably high. (And with the deaths of Wadea Al Fayoume and Samantha Woll, the violence has made its way here.)
I often find writing to be a cathartic way to process my own feelings about complicated things, but when it comes to Israel-Palestine, I have found the most fruitful and healing exchanges to be in-person ones. After being spoken to online (by someone I love) in the most vicious way anyone has ever spoken to me, I realized that I needed to take a step back from doom-scrolling and panic posting, and refocus on person-to-person dialogue. This is one of those times that social media “connection” is no match for real, human, flesh-and-blood connection. Memes are no match for an exchange of words and ideas where you have to look the other person in the eye.
But what I do want to write about here are the little things that have brought me joy or clarity or healing over these last two weeks. Some of these things are weighty and important. Others are totally inconsequential. All of them have helped me a little.
