The title of this post is borrowed from a book I read earlier this year, called Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. While so many of the ideas in there resonated—I highly recommend the book overall—two in particular helped me better manage my anxiety recently about “the state of the world.”
IDEA 1: Our feeling of overwhelm is often by design.
Burkeman talks about not only the sheer amount of digital information we all have access to nowadays (researchers estimated that in 1999 the quantity of data generated online was approximately 1.5 billion gigabytes—the 2024 estimate is now 147 TRILLION) but how we tend to experience it. Essentially, we live in an attention economy where media and businesses, particularly social platforms, use a sense of urgency and outrage to keep us clicking, scrolling, and consuming.
While this is not a new or a radical idea, it was a helpful reminder to zoom out and understand the digital environment that we are immersed in every day. Especially as I read more about how fascism and authoritarianism can function in a similar way; by flooding citizens with chaos to create a sense of paralysis and make resistance feel impossible. This is false, of course, and leads us to…
IDEA 2: Instead of trying to care about EVERYTHING—pick a few things.
Burkeman says, “in an age of attention scarcity, the greatest act of good citizenship may be learning to withdraw your attention from everything except the battles you’ve chosen to fight.” In the book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder recommends that one way to resist authoritarianism is by focusing on good causes that “express your view of life.”
Snyder goes on to suggest setting up autopay for a charity or nonprofit that supports the cause you care about. Which is great—it’s a simple and straightforward way to make an impact (after the last election, I set up $25/month autopay for the ACLU so I felt like I could be doing something small every month to help protect civil rights.) But beyond that, I think it can be really powerful to find ways to use our strengths and unique skills to contribute to those few causes we care about.
One way to think about this could be visualized through a Venn diagram:
A cause you’re passionate about
An organization or event that supports that cause
Your unique skill or interest (baking, writing, art, building things, event planning, etc.)
Example: Two years ago, I ended up fundraising for trans rights (a cause I care about) because I heard about a read-a-thon (reading voraciously is a skill in this scenario) that was taking off as the #transrightsreadathon on Instagram (event).
A more recent example: over the past two years, I’ve dedicated some of my time and money to try and help a cause I care about—the situation in Gaza. But recently I had been thinking about how I could do something more, potentially using my skill in comics. Things finally crystallized for me when I learned about a mutual aid organization called Creators for Gaza, which pairs artists with families that need help amplifying their fundraisers to survive and escape the war/genocide. Here’s the comic that came out of that collaboration:
Photo credit, panel 5: Destroyed buildings in Rafah, southern Gaza, May 31, 2024. Mohammed Saber/AAP
I was a bit worried when I posted this on Instagram because I’ve been somewhat inactive on the platform lately (see: attention economy above). I guessed that the algorithm might suppress my post, but in actuality this is the most engagement I’ve ever had on a post, with over 15K views and 115 shares. I am so glad that my comic seemed to resonate with a lot of people there—and most importantly, that I was able to raise almost $1,000 dollars for Noha’s family. A little aside here: if the current situation in Gaza is something that you also care about, I would love if you’d consider contributing to Noha’s fundraiser. Or, if art making is in your skillset, you can apply to be matched with a family here.
I’m curious to know what cause(s) you’re interested in supporting right now. What might your Venn diagram look like? If you have an idea you’d like to share—no matter how loosely formed—I’d love to hear it in the comments. Plus, declaring something publicly can be a great accountability strategy, if you need one!
My name is Susannah Hainley and I’m a comics creator, teacher, and designer based in San Francisco. GRAPHICA is a place for my comics and sketches about food, travel, books, and art making. Subscribe here, or learn more about my work by visiting my website.
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