Fresh Off the Shelf - Vol. 8
And So Yesteryear Goes as We Brace for What Comes Next
I feel as though I have forgotten how to breathe. My body is beset by persistent tension, the muscles worn by constant stress and overuse. Events seem to move so fast that you find yourself always needing more air in your lungs to push on, all the while you’ve forgotten how to exhale—how to expel all the waste and excess.
The question we ultimately ask ourselves is, how will we proceed? Shall we let the whims of fate carry us? Will we stand and march with the confidence and strength to bear the next day? Or are we to simply let the passage of time drag us across the pavement and into our graves?
James Baldwin reminds us that “he who finds no way to rest cannot long survive the battle.”1 And today in the United States, we find ourselves facing many battles—internal and external. I have lost family and partners. I fight to keep my home. I spend each day watching us lose our nation. And yet, I must fight. We all must. I do not intend to stop, and neither should you.
I have spent much of January in a state of recovery, as it were. I’ve read fewer books, and the lessened pressure has sparked wells of creativity in me long dormant. I feel myself healing, and it’s wonderful. These books were a part of that journey towards recovery.
