Rules for Survival

Ariela Bee
Aug 23, 2017 · 1 min read

Stay angry.

Your anger is your armor, your shield, your sword. You have every reason to be frightened, to despair, to hide and look away. But fear and despair will not help anyone. Don’t get scared, get angry. Stay angry. Your anger will keep you moving in the darkness.

Laugh.

Develop a dry, twisted sense of humor if you don’t already have one. We have fallen into a bottomless pit of misery and despair. If you can’t learn how to laugh at the abyss, the fall will be the end of you. At the very least, laughing will confuse your enemies.

Stay connected.

People will try to brutalize you into isolation. There will be a seemingly endless procession of defeats, a constant drumbeat of frustration. There will be loss. Do not allow your compassion to be stolen. Build community. Embrace kinship. Encourage coalition. Celebrate love wherever you find it.

Cry.

Sometimes. Not all the time. Just often enough to relieve the pressure.

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Ariela Bee

Written by

Storyteller and activist.

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