Joy as Resistance
Karen Jurick We live in a sad world. A world in which elderly people cannot retire, children are orphaned, cancer steals lives, and countries wage war. To this sad world, there is a panoply of options. We can ignore it all and become self-centered in hopes of feeling some kind of stability. We can bully others to feel some control over the world and the lives around us. We can melt into a pit of learned helplessness and assume we are powerless. We can medicate until we are numb to our surroundings. We can buy Labubus and NeeDohs and every other trendy hot commodity in an attempt at creating tangible substance in our lives. Each of these is a miserable pursuit. Alternatively, we can take drastic action. We can become starkly religious, either for better or for worse. We can sell our homes to do van life, for better or for worse. We can quit our jobs and instead become starving artists critiquing the social landscape. These are less miserable pursuits, but they are typically not ...
