I'm also going to add something that I think a lot of us feel from time to time.

It's SO easy to rage at awful things happening in the world, full stop.

It can feel downright cold-blooded to be the person who pushes for more precision with data, & wants to understand all the concrete challenges getting in the way of doing better.

Who the heck wants to be *pragmatic* when the world's burning?

But I'm so thankful for folks who lean into the more tedious data work of activism whenever they can.

Well... this started as a news "brief", honest.

But deeper analysis was called for when I went a-sourcing a few claims. The problem with this week's failed ceasefire resolution is the error it continues to represent:

We keep acting like words can bypass the incredibly challenging factors shaping power in war.

So today's piece explores the lack of practical alternatives, regional instability, the challenge of courageous restraint, and more reasons suffering will go on.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/the-uns-failed-resolution-and-the-problem-of-power-in-war/

(The next few won't be quite as "meta", I promise. Monthly media recs for paid-subscribers this weekend!)

Not entirely satisfied with this one, but as they say, no work is finished: only abandoned.

In the free-to-read this week at #BetterWorldsTheory, I reflect on the part of my last piece that engaged in a "reaction cycle" - and recommend other thoughtful Substack writers while fleshing out a way for us to avoid falling prey to living in conversations centrally dictated by the sensational claim of the day.

We have to dream proactively, even if we can't do better just yet.

https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/building-the-community-we-want-to

Also, hilariously, his is both the best and worst feedback. Extensive praise for the writing, loves the half that takes place on an active crew, and... also finds himself wanting to be in that half all the time. High praise for the insights in the other half, where my Thucydides character is narrating, but still likes being in the active sections far more.

Which... raises a difficult challenge. We'll see what he thinks of the 2nd half when it's ready for him, but for now I have to trust my gut!

This one is for the #Writers: a piece on feedback. Great timing in my inbox!

I've now heard from my beta reader, which is always useful--*if* you know when to bend and when to hold firm.

Sometimes while reading his notes, I disagreed with the little things, but even then I have to remember that average readers might snag similarly.

Being "right" overlooks that feedback is telling you "this is what an average reader will think".

Deciding which matters more is a skill.
https://open.substack.com/pub/innerlifecollaborative/p/noted

More on that soon with a piece for OnlySky, but a key UN vote was delayed this morning. Trying to write carefully on active news is harder sometimes than trying to hold a squirmy dog with something in their mouth they know they're not supposed to be eating! 🙃

Today's cultural #news insight:

On one page, more arguments from a fractured ELN still insisting on continuing to kidnap & hold people for ransom (ELN doesn't like being treated like everyone else in Petro's total peace approach to negotiating with various cartels & guerrillas).

On the other page? A write-up on Gaza in the third month of war.

When Westerners try to understand world reactions, it's important to remember that the world has different experiences with related elements. #Colombia

Diving into late night writing.

In a few weeks I'll be eight years older than a year I thought I wouldn't live to see. What a gift every day has been since then - no matter how hard and fraught with setback.

I am so full of wonder and gratitude for folks who've managed the gift of persistence for so much longer.

Thank you, old souls.

Thank you so, so much for showing how it's done: imperfectly, but exquisitely in all its imperfections. 🫂♾️🕊

I've had plenty of wobbly days this year, as have so many of you (as have so many *regions* in the world), so here's just a big ol' hug to anyone who needs it, for doing what's needed to ensure they're still *here*.

Next year might not be any easier - we have two wars, unchecked climate change, surging authoritarianism, and profound rich-poor divides - but... we still have a lot of "bearing witness to the weird, fragile wonder of the cosmos" to do, too. ❤️

So glad to share this world with you.

My desire to attend to mental health via company is routinely foiled by how little work I can usually get done around others. 🙃

Rain's stopped, though, so hopefully these two messes I've drafted can be put right in editing once I'm home. And I *do* appreciate the mental boost of reminding myself I'm not quite so isolated after all. It's been a hard year with dear folk far afield.

No classes tonight because of Día de las velitas, so... more time to work on the novel once these are finished? 🤞

In honour of Benjamin Zephaniah, here's "We Refugees". He wasn't able to read and write until his teens. He brought so much to the world via books, poetry, and activism - even though most news outlets are highlighting him solely re: Peaky Blinders.

He contained multitudes.

"We can all be refugees
Nobody is safe,
All it takes is a mad leader
Or no rain to bring forth food,
We can all be refugees
We can all be told to go,
We can be hated by someone
For being someone."

https://www.poeticous.com/benjamin-obadiah-iqbal-zephaniah/we-refugees

There is a beautiful, sweeping, torrential downpour right now...

Right when I was hoping to leave the office. 🙃 That'll teach me to work so far from the desk for a day.

#StillPurdyThough ⛈️