fatigue and kindness

Between the personal grief (the loss of my dear cat) and the grief & suffering in the larger world, I can hardly bear to use language these days. The world (and especially this country) is about as fucked-up right now as I can remember ever seeing in my forty-four years, and my own house is much too quiet.

I will not feel bad about grieving my cat -- not to grieve is not to love, and I will not shut my heart down, not even in the face of ... what we're all facing now.

But it's hard to feel that I have anything to say, anything to add. Reading things like this survivor's testimony, I feel like I shouldn't even try. I cannot go south to help, I've given money, and what few words I can muster pale in comparison to what others have been able to say -- read those others. I have a good compilation of links to organizations accepting donations to assist animals who are also suffering in the hurricane's wake; anyone who wants those is welcome to backchannel me for the list (ahaines at gmail dot com). I will also direct you to this list of resources for socially responsible hurricane relief. Beyond that (which isn't much), what can I possibly say or do or offer?

Just this, just this: if you read these words, please be kind to somebody today. It may seem small and insignificant, but sometimes it's all we've got, just a little human kindness. It can't fix everything that's wrong, but maybe it can ease our hearts a bit. Be kind.