Start Here
For a long time, I felt emotionally unable to participate in activism. The scale of suffering was overwhelming. The systems too entrenched. I felt too small to make a difference.
If that sounds familiar, this space might be for you.
This isn’t a newsletter about pretending everything will be okay. It’s about learning how to stay open and engaged in the face of uncertainty, collapse, and change—and doing so in a way that nourishes rather than depletes.
If you’re not sure where to begin, these five pieces offer a soft landing. They’re not a sequence. Just a handful of threads to tug on—each one a way into the deeper questions we’re holding.
🕰 1. the future is not a countdown
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What if time isn’t running out—but opening up?
This essay reframes our obsession with urgency, showing how collapse thinking traps us in either despair or delusion. It introduces “kairos”—the idea that change happens in ripe moments, not on ticking clocks.
“Hope is simply an emotional attachment to one of many possible futures.
Despair is simply an emotional attachment to one of many possible futures.”
🌊 2. Erosion, not Explosion
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A field guide to slow work, sacred mess, and unseen change.
For those who feel like nothing is happening fast enough, this is a meditation on how transformation unfolds quietly. It honors the messy, gradual, often invisible work of true change.
“Not everything that breaks is a crisis. Some things are just opening.”
🔨 3. How to Save the World
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Six not-so-easy steps to a brighter future.
This piece blends clarity and complexity—it’s a bridge between your grief and your action. If you’re overwhelmed by what needs fixing, this gives structure without collapsing into simplicity.
“Saving the world doesn’t mean doing everything. It means doing something well, again and again, with others.”
🕊 4. Who Gets to Be an Activist? (Hint: You Do)
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If you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong in the fight—you do.
Many of us struggle to claim the word “activist.” This reflection is for anyone who cares deeply but feels like they’re not doing enough, not loud enough, not perfect enough. You’re already part of it.
“Activism doesn’t have to look like protest signs and petitions. Sometimes it looks like love. Or boundaries.”
🔥 5. Lessons in Practical Resilience
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What to do when you feel crispy.
Not everyone needs lofty theory. Sometimes we just need to know how to keep going. This one’s for anyone on the edge of burnout—especially those who’ve been holding things together for too long.
“Resilience isn’t toughness. It’s learning what to let go of—and what to come back to.”
✨ Welcome.
If you’re here, you’re already part of the conversation.
I write about what it means to care, to grieve, to act, and to build—especially when it feels like the world is unraveling. This work is grounded in slowness, softness, and solidarity.
I’d love to stay in touch.
You can subscribe here to receive new reflections each week.
And you can send me a message here or reply to any email from this newsletter:
If someone came to mind while you were reading, I hope you’ll share this page with them. Sometimes a single sentence, arriving at the right time, can change how we move through the world.
With love,
Bri
P.S. If you’re still hungry for more, you can find ALL my beginner-friendly essays tagged with “Start Here” at this link: https://www.brichapman.com/t/start-here 💖