We are much more comfortable calling out atrocity once it's already done and over---and there's really no point to calling it out because it's already occurred. It's not "kind" to avoid confrontation by choosing not to speak about Palestine. Sure, maybe you stopped your friend from feeling moral guilt about not caring enough, but you also chose to devalue the tens of thousands of lives that have already been lost to the genocide. Honesty is our greatest tool when it comes to resisting imperial violence.

I picked this up at a local used bookstore thinking it’s finally time for me to read this classic, and I’m already excited by the foreword and introduction. The foreword writer claimed in 2005 that Orwell was misguided in his belief that many nations would fall victim to totalitarianism… if only he could see the trajectory the U.S. is on right now. It’s an especially relevant time to read dystopian classics, I believe.

Wrote this one down and I just had to share it: “Resentment is the most important emotion to pay attention to when we’re beginning our boundary-setting journey. Notice when you start having fake arguments in your head. That’s a sign that there’s a need that isn’t being met, or that something isn’t being acknowledged, either within yourself, or with another person.”

Fake arguments in your head... that hit a little too close to home, haha!

She killed this book. It felt like she saw into my childhood and picked apart the little pieces that form my current unconscious self-defeating behaviors. Wow!

His books are so intensely human in a way that I love. I also love listening to them on audiobook because he reads his own books and I love his voice. He ensures his stories are human-centered despite dealing with complex biomedical or historical topics. He also somehow allows his personality to shine through in his narration in a way that feels friendly but not unprofessional. John Green is absolutely a role model of mine!