Some spells against despair

lightly footnoted

A Cantrip of Thanks for Community*

So here's to you, whoever you may be
You that held me up when I was sinking in the sea
If you were in Kiltartan and me in Katmandu
I still would not forget you, I would do the same for you

* Don’t be afraid to dance to it if it tells you to

I feel that music is our greatest way to sustain ourselves. Listening is good. Making music is better. Making music with other people is best. Something happens then; something is created greater than the sum of its parts. You don’t just hear it, you feel it in your whole body, and deeper, too.

The simplest way to make music is to sing.¹ You can sing to yourself as you walk or do housework. You can sing to a child. You can ask your friends if they know any rounds.² You can look for a local Shape Note (aka Sacred Harp) Singing group, or a community sing or a church choir. And of course, you can sing along to whatever is on your speakers.

May I ask for some music that sustains you?

A Spell Against becoming Overwhelmed

Jennifer Walter writes:
”As a sociologist, I need to tell you:
Your overwhelm is the goal.

1. The flood of …executive orders in Trump's first days… [uses] chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual - it's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits.

2. [Marshall] McLuhan predicted this: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly impossible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy.

3. …When multiple major policies compete for attention simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage.

The result? Weakened democratic oversight and reduced public engagement.
What now?

1. Set boundaries: Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can't track everything - that's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness.

2. Use aggregators & experts: Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events.

3. Remember: Feeling overwhelmed is the point. When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon.

4. Practice going slow: Wait 48hrs before reacting to new policies. The urgent clouds the important. Initial reporting often misses context

5. Build community: Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload.

Remember: They want you scattered. Your focus is resistance.

A Spell against Disarray

”They're attacking everything at once to prolong the moment of shock. They want you in disarray. And it works. . . . They want us in disarray and it leaves us reeling and unsure of how to respond. You respond by being in array. You respond by calling fucking everyone and naming precise things you oppose. You point at the smash-and-grab and name it.” — Gabriel Valdez³

A Spell for Generosity

So, let me say that yeah, you do have the ability to fight back.

Art by Johnny Thief for Seppuku Tattoo

So giving blood this one time by itself isn’t going to have a society changing impact. But it is part of having the kind of outlook that peers outside your own mire, lets you peek out of the foxhole, and to give a shit about the people around you.

Today it’s giving blood, next week maybe helping out at a food drive, or visiting a children’s ward and reading a sick kid a comic, or speaking at rehab, or making some art and leaving it out in a random location, or what have you. These were things that happened on the regular not that long ago…. — Johnny Thief⁴

A Spell for Remembering

My thanks to Shane Odom of Mythical Designs for this.

A Spell for Counterpoisons

I will not indulge in impotent, passive despair. I will not add to the despair of the world. I am working on counterpoisons… I create a space in which people can breathe, restore their faith and strength to live. ~Anais Nin

An artist friend in her 60s is frustrated with how little energy she has to get out and fight injustice the way she used to. She’s a woman who writes and paints and sustains all around her - and that is more than enough. I told her:

“You’re nourishing everyone so they can do more: you’re the one making soup behind the lines.”⁵

A Spell to Bring the Wind

Now is a time of quiet. A passionate activist friend told me she doesn’t feel very resisty yet, but one thing that characterizes deserts is the stillness, until the wind blows. And, boy, when it blows, it’s like an organ. You can hear its shape and power because everything else is so still. How or when will the wind start up? How could we know? But it always does. —Anne Lamott ⁶

A Spell for Mercy Now

‘I was trying to say, ‘The country has been entrusted to you,’” Bishop Budde said. “And one of the qualities of a leader is mercy, right? Mercy. And to be mindful of the people who are scared.”’⁷

My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor
Fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over
It won’t be long and he won’t be around
I love my father, and he could use some mercy now

My brother could use a little mercy now
He’s a stranger to freedom
He’s shackled to his fears and doubts
The pain that he lives in is
Almost more than living will allow
I love my brother, and he could use some mercy now

My Church and my Country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit
That’s going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful
Who follow ‘em down
I love my Church and Country and they could use some mercy now

Every living thing could use a little mercy now
Only the hand of grace can end the race
Towards another mushroom cloud
People in power, well
They’ll do anything to keep their crown
I love life, and life itself could use some mercy now

Yea, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don’t deserve it
But we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance
Dangle ‘tween hell and hallowed ground
Every single one of us could use some mercy now. . . .
— Mary Gauthier

Can you share a spell with us here?

So here's to you, whoever you may be
You that held me up when I was sinking in the sea
If you were in Kiltartan and me in Katmandu
I still would not forget you, I would do the same for you

Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash

I wrote most of this last night, planned to send it out this evening after a quick polish. But this afternoon, I went to see the Broadway production of the brilliant musical CABARET. The whole August Wilson Theater’s been transformed into a nightclub, to put you inside the KitKat Club of 1930s Berlin as soon as you walk in. The show’s in the round, and we were sitting right above the stage, really immersed in the story. Oddly, when we saw the same production in London, we had the same seats!⁸, and were equally moved by its unsparing vision. That was Summer 2022. The NYC production leans even more heavily into the cruelty and terror of the times. The first act now ends at the engagement party of the elderly couple, one of whom is a Jew - and when a guest who turns out to be a Nazi walks out, another calls him back with a reprise of Tomorrow Belongs to Me, which the whole cast slowly joins in on.

I don’t know if I’m adequately conveying what a punch in the gut that was for me. Two days ago was Holocaust Remembrance Day. I watched the Jewish and the queer characters onstage and thought, They’re all going to die. I started to cry, and by the time the lights came up I was sobbing in my seat. Delia & our friend E⁹ walked me out to a corner, and hugged me. I couldn’t stop. I finally gulped out what I was thinking:
. . . And it’s all going to happen again now. The unexpected anti-Semitism of the past 18 months; the election and return of a U.S. president leading a willing population right into Fascism. . . . ¹⁰

An usher asked us if there was anything I needed.

“A better world,” Delia told him.

He got me water. He asked if he could hug us. He took us to the Secret Washroom before the next act started. I was fussing with my hair as I left, and another usher said, “You look great, even without looking in the mirror!”

By these simple kindnesses are we sustained.

And that’s a good place to stop.

Your pal,

Ellen

1. Or whistle or hum, if you want to be finicky here

2. Any round turns out to be gorgeous now; even Row, Row, Row Your Boat achieves nirvana if you’ve got at least 3 parts going and you don’t stop until it’s really solid. Did you go to Girl Scout (or any other) Camp? Remember Rose, Rose, Rose . . . or Dona Nobis Pacem? That’ll take the roof right off your spirits, I promise. And it’s OK to laugh.

3. I stumbled across Gabriel Valdez on Facebook, where he is doing post after post of brilliant insight and instructions using his knowledge from a background in . . . sales? (Please fill me in if you know more.) His regular online blog is about film. I don’t know if he’s posting his political action advice anywhere else but Facebook. I will now read him regularly, and share where I can. His latest on how to confuse an opponent by varying your speech patterns is a gem, worthy of George Lakoff.

4. Johnny Thief is the co-founder and owner of Seppuku Tattoo in NJ. I met Johnny in 2015, on the Out of Excuses Writing Workshop and Retreat, the first to be held on a cruise ship in the Caribbean! He was a student of mine, and although our writing could not be more different, our souls just connected, and we’ve been friends ever since - though mostly where we see each other is on Facebook, where he is fierce and passionate and caring. (He also provided me with the Anais Nin quote above.) We do share a love for classic musicals. His short fiction is getting published a lot, and he’s working on a mythic horror autobiography.

5. Yes, this one’s mine.

6. Anne Lamott may be best known for her book on writing, Bird by Bird, which encourages us all to embrace our shitty first draft. This quote is a clip from her January 29th, 2025 piece in the Washington Post, The Resistance Will Not be Rushed. A gift link to the WaPo article here. Lamott also offers the full text of the WaPo piece on her Facebook page.

7. Quoted in NYTimes

8. We chose our London seats, but today’s TDF discount tickets were the seats they assigned us.

9. Elizabeth Dulemba, visiting houseguest, beloved friend.

10. As my friend Joel, son of a major Civil Rights lawyer, puts it: “The Great American Experiment has had a good run, it lasted for over 200 years. Whatever follows it, we’re about to find out.”