The idea of not giving up, despite the odds stacked against us, goes back ages. Not everyone has learned how to manage that. I learned all of that as a soldier but I don't recommend that unless you already have some of that to begin with. I learned this growing up in a hostile household as a kid. It was either learn to stand up for myself or turn into a quivering mess. But despite all of that, it scars you mentally. At my age, I'm full of fortitude and all of the other things, but I don't have any hope for the United States anymore. I'm gearing up for a big economic crash coming soon. I am spending my time taking care myself and my household, rather than dwell on the possibilities of what the future may look like.
The simplicity of wisdom in a few words is powerful. They are easy to remember and become a life line to the present when the whirlpool of our past tries to drag us down. Jessica, thank you for the inspirational article.
Plato was quoting the Four Stoic Virtues there. (Real Stoic thought, not the crap the broligarchy is teaching.) I've found Stoic philosophy very helpful.
Thank you for this, Jessica. So many are clinging to hope rather than taking steps to build fortitude. Most are simply in denial, paralyzed by fear. My ¨hope¨ is that when we do face reality collectively (by choice or circumstance), we focus on fortitude while also collaborating with others!
I was born under the cloud of the U.S. caused nuclear holocaust.....and I AM STILL HERE.
For many years I focused on nuclear abolition, as I lived just 7 miles, as the crow flies, from the largest stockpile of deployable nuclear weapons in the world - enough nuclear fire power to destroy the surface of the earth and every living thing on it (except probably cockroaches) 33 times over at Submarine Base Bangor, Washington (state). It was a strangely comforting to know that if/when(?) some mad man pushed the red buttons that I wouldn't even know it because I would be instantly vaporized - every nuclear nation in the world has bombs bursting in air aimed right at us.
Now I live on Maui, Hawai'i and still contribute to The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Bangor, Washington, but no longer participate in Direct Civil Resistance (we no longer call this Civil Disobedience because we are not disobeying when we stand for justice and safety for all beings. We stand for life, not against the organized violence of the nation states.)
A few years ago, on January 13, 2018 at 8:08 am, everyone in Hawai'i received a text from the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency:
Emergency Alert
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAI'I.
SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Can you even IMAGINE?????
The alert message on television broadcasts took the form of both an audio message and a scrolling banner. It stated in part:
"The U.S. Pacific Command has detected a missile threat to Hawaii. A missile may impact on land or sea within minutes. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. If you are indoors, stay indoors. If you are outdoors, seek immediate shelter in a building. Remain indoors well away from windows. If you are driving, pull safely to the side of the road and seek shelter in a building or lay on the floor. We will announce when the threat has ended. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Take immediate action measures."
By 8:10 a.m. HST, three minutes after the first alert, Hawaii National Guard Adjutant General Arthur "Joe" Logan had contacted U.S. Pacific Command and confirmed there had been no missile launch. At that time, the Honolulu Police Department was notified that the alert had been a false alarm.
But here's the kicker: "official messages refuting the emergency alert were not sent out until 8:20 a.m., according to the timeline released by officials after the incident."
Did they use the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency system to text everyone in Hawai'i that we no longer had to fear for our freaking lives? Nope.
"Hawaii Emergency Management Agency accounts on Facebook and Twitter posted messages at that time urging people to disregard the erroneous alert. Minutes later, Governor David Ige retweeted the HI-EMA message on Twitter and posted a similar message on Facebook to notify followers that the alert had been canceled. Governor Ige later said the delay was caused in part by the fact he did not know his Twitter login information. An email from the state was also sent at about 8:25 a.m. advising that the initial alert was not correct."
SHEESH, people! This was all like a really bad episode of the Keystone Cops. Given that I have spent entirely WAY too much time dealing with governmental agencies I KNEW they were all LYING. The governmental goons scared the livin' bejeezus out of the good people of Hawai'i causing untold trauma - intentionally.
Know why? A couple of months later the Feds came a knockin' wanting permission to beef up the military might on Hawai'i to "protect" us. RIGHT! That very last thing we need out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is more governmental and military buffoons threatening our peaceful way of life.
Why am I telling this tale to you, my fortified comrades? So that you warned and encouraged to ALWAYS THINK FOR YOURSELF when it comes to anything that the fascists do.
FYI - I did not believe the onerous text message so did not get all traumatized and bent out of shape. Why? There were no emergency warning sirens (which are blaringly tested everywhere on Hawai'i on the first of every month). Thus, the text potentially terrifying message simply did not make sense to me.
Each of us were born with an internal warning system. The American culture works diligently to disable this innate protective system in all of its children and citizens so that rather than pay attention to our own body-sensed wisdom we are more willing to follow the leader, even if that leader is a crooked tyrant.
Hope is nice, but it doesn’t hold you up when everything’s falling apart. Fortitude does. That quiet push to keep going when you’re wrecked, when you don’t know if it matters, but you do it anyway.
We don’t need more inspiration posters. We need more people saying, “Yeah, it’s hard. Do it anyway.”
The idea of not giving up, despite the odds stacked against us, goes back ages. Not everyone has learned how to manage that. I learned all of that as a soldier but I don't recommend that unless you already have some of that to begin with. I learned this growing up in a hostile household as a kid. It was either learn to stand up for myself or turn into a quivering mess. But despite all of that, it scars you mentally. At my age, I'm full of fortitude and all of the other things, but I don't have any hope for the United States anymore. I'm gearing up for a big economic crash coming soon. I am spending my time taking care myself and my household, rather than dwell on the possibilities of what the future may look like.
Thanks for the fortitude Jessica ;-)
Jeez you are such a great writer.
The simplicity of wisdom in a few words is powerful. They are easy to remember and become a life line to the present when the whirlpool of our past tries to drag us down. Jessica, thank you for the inspirational article.
Thank you for this.
I was just enjoying this today - a very simple children's story, but feels resonant with your post.
https://youtu.be/I_71leeVdwQ?si=x-axsa4699ZawizY
Be the change you want to see in the world: don’t hope that someone else steps up!
Plato was quoting the Four Stoic Virtues there. (Real Stoic thought, not the crap the broligarchy is teaching.) I've found Stoic philosophy very helpful.
Thank you for this, Jessica. So many are clinging to hope rather than taking steps to build fortitude. Most are simply in denial, paralyzed by fear. My ¨hope¨ is that when we do face reality collectively (by choice or circumstance), we focus on fortitude while also collaborating with others!
I was born under the cloud of the U.S. caused nuclear holocaust.....and I AM STILL HERE.
For many years I focused on nuclear abolition, as I lived just 7 miles, as the crow flies, from the largest stockpile of deployable nuclear weapons in the world - enough nuclear fire power to destroy the surface of the earth and every living thing on it (except probably cockroaches) 33 times over at Submarine Base Bangor, Washington (state). It was a strangely comforting to know that if/when(?) some mad man pushed the red buttons that I wouldn't even know it because I would be instantly vaporized - every nuclear nation in the world has bombs bursting in air aimed right at us.
Now I live on Maui, Hawai'i and still contribute to The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Bangor, Washington, but no longer participate in Direct Civil Resistance (we no longer call this Civil Disobedience because we are not disobeying when we stand for justice and safety for all beings. We stand for life, not against the organized violence of the nation states.)
A few years ago, on January 13, 2018 at 8:08 am, everyone in Hawai'i received a text from the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency:
Emergency Alert
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAI'I.
SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Can you even IMAGINE?????
The alert message on television broadcasts took the form of both an audio message and a scrolling banner. It stated in part:
"The U.S. Pacific Command has detected a missile threat to Hawaii. A missile may impact on land or sea within minutes. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. If you are indoors, stay indoors. If you are outdoors, seek immediate shelter in a building. Remain indoors well away from windows. If you are driving, pull safely to the side of the road and seek shelter in a building or lay on the floor. We will announce when the threat has ended. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Take immediate action measures."
By 8:10 a.m. HST, three minutes after the first alert, Hawaii National Guard Adjutant General Arthur "Joe" Logan had contacted U.S. Pacific Command and confirmed there had been no missile launch. At that time, the Honolulu Police Department was notified that the alert had been a false alarm.
But here's the kicker: "official messages refuting the emergency alert were not sent out until 8:20 a.m., according to the timeline released by officials after the incident."
Did they use the Hawai'i Emergency Management Agency system to text everyone in Hawai'i that we no longer had to fear for our freaking lives? Nope.
"Hawaii Emergency Management Agency accounts on Facebook and Twitter posted messages at that time urging people to disregard the erroneous alert. Minutes later, Governor David Ige retweeted the HI-EMA message on Twitter and posted a similar message on Facebook to notify followers that the alert had been canceled. Governor Ige later said the delay was caused in part by the fact he did not know his Twitter login information. An email from the state was also sent at about 8:25 a.m. advising that the initial alert was not correct."
SHEESH, people! This was all like a really bad episode of the Keystone Cops. Given that I have spent entirely WAY too much time dealing with governmental agencies I KNEW they were all LYING. The governmental goons scared the livin' bejeezus out of the good people of Hawai'i causing untold trauma - intentionally.
Know why? A couple of months later the Feds came a knockin' wanting permission to beef up the military might on Hawai'i to "protect" us. RIGHT! That very last thing we need out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is more governmental and military buffoons threatening our peaceful way of life.
Why am I telling this tale to you, my fortified comrades? So that you warned and encouraged to ALWAYS THINK FOR YOURSELF when it comes to anything that the fascists do.
FYI - I did not believe the onerous text message so did not get all traumatized and bent out of shape. Why? There were no emergency warning sirens (which are blaringly tested everywhere on Hawai'i on the first of every month). Thus, the text potentially terrifying message simply did not make sense to me.
Each of us were born with an internal warning system. The American culture works diligently to disable this innate protective system in all of its children and citizens so that rather than pay attention to our own body-sensed wisdom we are more willing to follow the leader, even if that leader is a crooked tyrant.
You all know better......
Damn, this one got under the skin.
Hope is nice, but it doesn’t hold you up when everything’s falling apart. Fortitude does. That quiet push to keep going when you’re wrecked, when you don’t know if it matters, but you do it anyway.
We don’t need more inspiration posters. We need more people saying, “Yeah, it’s hard. Do it anyway.”
Thanks for this. I needed it.
Thank you! I'm still hanging in there.
Wow. I wish I could ❤️ this a million times. Thank you.
Fortitude. You are right. You write a beautiful essay.
One word: Sisu.
Absolutely terrific ideas. Thank you! Your wise words will stay with me.