In this, let’s be honest, historically bad, dark, brutal time, I was just thinking about: What are my points of light getting me through this darkness (a thought anyone diagnosed with chronic depression is well familiar with)? Who do I look to for hope?

The good news is, there are SO MANY answers to this question.

Friends.

Friends’ dogs (cats, goats, etc).

A whole bunch of local folks who have just rolled up their sleeves and gotten to work making sure neighbors are okay.

A lot a lot of really amazing leaders in government, from local to state wide, protecting my city and my state.

I am realizing, in a scenario like this warped timeline we are currently in, how lucky I am to live where I live, because I’ve always said part of the reason I love living here is because Baltimoreans and Marylanders are just scrappy, always have been, and they may curse a lot while doing it, but you best believe they will drop anything to help out a friend, family member, neighbor, random stranger on the street.

Also people who make me laugh, people whose art makes me smile, or inspires me, or brings me joy or peace. If there’s no joy in the present, it’s harder to remember the point in fighting for a better world.

Snacks. A really good playlist. That one song I just play on repeat for three hours whenever I need to. Soft blankets. Stretchy clothes. A good binge watch. Naps, obvi. Things that smell good. People that smell good. Nature (also smells good). Rain. Porches.

New people I meet and that thing happens that’s like a thing clicking into place and I know this person is one of my people now, forever.

Old friends, reconnected.

People who get up every morning and do the work, whatever the work is, to keep moving us all forward, even if really awful stuff is happening. There has been a lot of loss. A lot. Frankly, all of 2025 so far has been a goddamned rollercoaster of extreme highs and lows, both personally and in general, and the ride ain’t stopping anytime soon. We gotta buckle up, buttercups.

People who just show up and listen without judgment. (If we could extend that out to the wider world…how great would that be?)

And while the internet and social media as a whole is kind of a cesspool, you really can make a little home on FB, IG, wherever, with your trusted friends and trusted news sources, and that helps a lot.

And the one other thing that helps is to think about the long game.

At some point, we will have lived through this, as in past tense. So it’s helpful for me to think about what that future timeline could look like, which is, at the very least, as long as we keep showing up and doing the things, way better. And at best, fucking phenomenal, with major shifts that only happen every few decades when everything is burnt to the ground and built back better.

During COVID, I bought this book by Kyle Harper called Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History. COVID was just so awful, so destructive, so mind-blowingly terrible in every way that I needed to step wayyyyyyyyyyy back for the long view. Like, beginning of time through present day kind of long view. It helped! And also I got to learn a bunch of cool science stuff.

Anyway. Long game. Do the one thing immediately in front of your face right now that helps get us there.

And let the light in. Light cannot exist without darkness, and we’ve got plenty.

Points of light. Make a list. It helps.