Optimism is not a plan. Anger is not power. Euphoria is not a national vision. Emotions are not a roadmap.
Mental prisons are more oppressive than physical prisons. And the worst prisons are those we build for ourselves
I'm a strategist. My job is to live in the future. To look at the big picture, to see everything as a trend, to think 20 moves ahead (and 20 years ahead). My brain is wired this way now.
But I'm also an activist. There are causes and values and people and things that I care about so deeply that they take over my life. I cannot be detached. I care very deeply.
Quote a combination, strategist and activist. And I hate it. It's isolating. People could be angry when you're calm. People could be euphoric when you're depressed. They can't see what you see, and you can't say it.
And people really hate it when you do not match their emotions. It's like emotions were made to be shared and those who routinely don't share our emotional state are not part of the tribe. They're "others"
I don't know what to do or what to say. Things aren't okay. We have all we need to win, but we aren't playing to win. To be strategic requires patience. It's difficult to be patient when you're in blinding pain. And the pain is by design, towards this very outcome.
Will we ever be able to cross that emotional barrier, from anger to strategy? From waithood to victory? From not-losing to winning? I can barely cross it in my own head. Can we?
All I know is that if you can't self reflect, there's nothing - absolutely nothing - that I can say to you to change your mind. It takes a lot of courage to self reflect. It's much harder to face our truths than to face the enemy.
And if we can't change our minds, we can't change course. Or build power, or build a movement, or move from solidarity to unity, or... win. I'm in it to win. I'm not in it to scratch an emotional itch. I'm in this to win, or die trying.
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