This week has certainly been interesting. In my year in review post, I listed engaging in some form of activism in my goals for 2025 but I didn’t know what that would look like. I wanted to channel my frustrations about what’s going on in the world into something productive rather than just feeling angry and sad. The first week of Trump round two has provided ample opportunity for frustration. I’ve contacted my representative and senators at least three times already, which I believe is extremely important, but it doesn’t feel like doing much. Helpful for getting my thoughts into words yes, but I’m under no delusion that Senator McCormick is interested in his constituents' displeasure about the current situation. With seemingly everything being bad, the feeling of needing to do something kept growing.

When I heard about the OMB memo halting federal aid funding, it was immediately obvious what I could do. I’ve donated to Philabundance monthly for several years, so I called and increased the amount I’m giving each month. If these ghouls wanted to strip funding from WIC and Meals on Wheels, I was going to increase my donations toward feeding people. That’s not to say I think it’s right, relying on the generosity of individuals to prevent people from starving is an abhorrent way to run a society. But, this is the situation we’re in and me giving more money is an easy way to do something to help. It’s so easy to be swept up in anger and frustration and feel like we’re powerless as individuals because we can’t fix the big-picture harms. As an individual, making my monthly donation a little larger is making sure there’s a litte more food available for people who need it.

Recognizing that such a small individual action has an undeniable impact was very freeing for me. Doing something, anything at all, that feels like a positive step helped me clear out some of the big picture fears and focus on what I can actually do. All week I’ve been reminding myself that despair isn’t helpful and feeling like I can’t do anything about it is false. I want to allow myself to feel my feelings, but not let them take over. Any one of us can’t fix an entire problem, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. I’ve seen many people give the advice to focus on buliding community and looking for ways to support resilience locally. This week I chose trying to reduce food insecurity in the Philadelphia area and next week I’ll try to find something else. Taking any action, as small as this was, empowered me to do a little more. The next one will make me feel like I can do a little more and maybe over time those small actions will add up to something great.