And so here we are in 2025, wondering and worrying about what’s about to begin in a few days. We don’t have to know what’s going to happen to know it’s not going to be good.

In the grief-stricken days and weeks after the election, I was simultaneously shell-shocked and taken with an urgent – no, desperate – need to make preparations like I was racing against a doomsday clock. I know from speaking to people in my circles that I wasn’t alone in that. What else to expect when it feels like the world is ending?

The shell-shocked part of me was sleeping more but feeling no better rested, anxiety made me feel like I was going to unravel at any moment, and little about the upcoming holidays made me feel excited or joyful. My appetite plummeted (and still isn’t back to normal). I stopped listening to the news entirely and didn’t check social media for days. I couldn’t listen to OPB (our public radio station) at all, when before it was always the background of my life, in the morning while I got ready for work, in the car, streaming at work, at home in the kitchen while we made meals. I switched to the classical station and haven’t listened to OPB since.

Meanwhile, the preparations part of me started compiling a to-do list that was six pages long (and has now grown to almost eight). No one ever accused me of being under-prepared for an assignment. (Overachievers Anonymous, welcome to our group meeting.) This list isn’t just preparations for ourselves, but preparations for helping our community — our circles of family, friends/found family, neighborhood, shared interest groups, etc. Our goal is to be part of a mutual aid network that builds trust and care for each other; community is how we survive and thrive together.

Sal and I immediately began working through it, figuring out what we could accomplish within the constraints of time, finances, ability, and resources, and busting our butts to accomplish as much as possible. Which has actually been a lot, because as a team, we are aces. We exhausted ourselves doing it, but I will say that it’s helped with the shell-shock we were both feeling. And knowing that we aren’t the only ones thinking about mutual aid and how to foster and build community has done a lot to fill my/our depleted reserves of hope.

Figuring out a new path forward

Speaking of community, Wishmoon Studio has enabled me to build connection with so many of you in one way or another, and it’s become one of my circles, too.

Which is why I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions. How do I continue to show up as an artist authentically without compromising the effective use of my voice? That is, in the interest of remaining able to help in a way that contributes to my community, should I become more circumspect in what I say publicly and in my art? There’s an argument to be made for remaining vocal and visible in standing up to oppression and injustice, especially in these times. But to whatever degree I have a platform, is it as effective as using silence as camouflage for a bigger and more useful contribution to my community? If I continue with Wishmoon Studio largely as it is, how does our new reality affect or change its mission?

This is the risk calculus I’ve been wracking my brain over for the last several weeks, and I confess that I still don’t have a clear answer yet. Although when I talked to my mom about it while she was here, she provided some helpful clarity, “Use your voice but don’t attract unnecessary attention.” That will be my strategy, it just doesn’t have a shape yet. I’ve come to realize that I’m waiting to see what and how quickly things change. Not to be reactive, but to get a better sense of where and how my contribution will be the most valuable to my community.

Regardless, Wishmoon Studio will continue, and its mission will remain the same:

Expression. Affirmation. Empowerment.

I intend to continue sharing my art and creative process, and as well as windows into my life and interests. I hope to build more community with you and to make more art that resonates for you. And as always, I will show up with authenticity.

Wisdom to share

All this pondering and preparing has culminated in some wisdoms that I’ve found helpful as I brace for what’s to come. I’m sharing them here in case you, too, find them helpful:

• Panic is the enemy of survival.

• Build community and mutual aid. We take care of each other.

• Trust your instincts.

• You can do some things to prepare, but it’s impossible to do everything. To quote Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.”

• Be honest with yourself about your circumstances.

• Treat your home as sanctuary.

• Stock up incrementally. It’s easier on the budget and better for the community.

• Protect your peace, look for beauty, indulge in the things that make you happy.

• Strengthen connections with your circles by checking in more often, sharing/pooling resources and strategies, and providing meaningful support to each other.

• Don’t obey in advance. (from Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny, which you should absolutely read)

• Read for pleasure, not just for information.

• Laugh and breathe as much as possible.

• Now is not the time to isolate. Get to know your neighbors.

• Many people through history have survived worse with less and still managed to find joy, love, hope, and determination. We can do this.

Thank you for being part of of my community. Here in the end of all things, I’m glad you’re here.