What to do with outrage
Yes, definitely write, but also be very clear with yourself
We live in a moment in which somehow we all seem to be under the impression we are obligated to issue a public statement every time Something Happens In The World. We absolutely do not have to do this, but social media giants and culture and all sorts of things helped us believe we do.
I’m by no means suggesting w do not write from our hearts on things about which we feel called to write about. Doing that is kind of our whole deal as writers. But, I’m also kindly offering the idea that we can do outrage better, and that we can all do better if we take a minute and identify the difference between:
Offering legitimate expertise due to a credential or lived experience. This can look like an op-ed, a blog post, a personal essay, a video or other form of content.
Sharing a legitimate and verified-as-not-whackadoodle resource for an activist cause that’s important to you.
“Speaking out.” It is perfectly fine to “speak out” because you want to, but we must all ask ourselves to be clear on (a) whether or not the topic is in our wheelhouse of expertise, and (b) what we hope others will do upon seeing our commentary in order to make it as useful as possible for them.
I’m not asking you not to write about whatever you want; but I am suggesting that we all seek the wisdom to know when outrage posting is actually our need to simply say “I feel terrible and need an outlet.” Because if that’s the case, not only is that a more powerful truth, but there are many ways to do that that doesn’t involve crowding out the voices in the first and second categories just because we feel a thing and want to scream into the void.
Again, I. am. not. suggesting we don’t post whatever the fuck we want, but I am suggesting we pause and know our motivations and honor them as deeply and truly as we can and try to learn from them. And, that we can even use them to make the world slightly better. Here’s why I say that:
I like following the work of Kelly Diels; she’s very wise and full of wonderful narrative-challenging thoughts that regularly speak to me. Lately, I’ve been thinking of a blog post she wrote a while back about what to do in overwhelmingly troubled times.
In her linked-above post, she writes about not knowing how to personally combat many of the ills present in our world that are far beyond her own expertise and adds that while it is easy to feel overwhelm and think there’s nothing valuable we can add to a given topic outside of our respective wheelhouses, and how that can make us feel helpless as fuckall. Diels offers this on that note:
And those feelings — overwhelm, helplessness — are actually really good information and a prompt for action, not inaction.
Instead of getting lost in those feelings, we can learn from them.
Her suggestion is one I agree with and will offer here: in difficult times, channel your feelings of overwhelm and fear and pain and outrage and not-knowing-what-to-do-ness to propel you to look for people and organizations who do know what to do, what to say, who know what data to examine and trust, who have well-formed information about narratives on the matter, and use your talents to amplify them.
