Some Reader Mail

Welcome to What’s Helping Today, a newsletter about the everyday work of staying alive on earth — written by author and journalist Sandy Ernest Allen.

Hi everybody,

A while back I got this lovely message from a fire fighter in Australia I’d wanted to share some of with you all …

Subject: Big Tough Fire Fighters From Australia Love You

Message: “I just heard your podcast with Yowei. It was wonderful. What a ray of light! It made me think about ports in a storm. Tyranny and dystopia has not yet taken over the whole planet. I appreciate you must be very busy but I am in the CFA (Country Fire Fighting) Authority here. It is a volunteer organisation that goes all the way back to the 1800s. Our fire station's walls are covered in pictures of mustached manly men—big axes, lots of brass. But then at a certain point, ladies appear. Then they also have mustaches and are carrying big axes. Now, things took a while. Nothing happened quickly. … [He shared more about the unit’s history and personnel, including queer members, and talked about the organization’s accepting ethos.] I think the answer why is simple: everyone dies the same horrible death when caught in a burnover in the appliance on the wrong day at the wrong time. And nobody around here could imagine our community without these people who are prepared to give their all to save another. …”

What's helping you today?: “Your continued existence in the face of a rapidly spawning autocracy”

(I hope those who’ve not yet will listen to that episode …)

Here’s another little note I wanted to share a bit from …

“First, I want to just say thank you for the incredible work you do across multiple topics (esp. trans experiences & mental health). If I had to name the best thing about coming to Bluesky, I would say it’s discovering you & your work.”

Finally, I did get a response from the letter writer who asked about re-finding the will to live (whom I responded to in my latest Dear Sandy column).

“Dear Sandy, I wanted to thank you for your response. It meant a great deal to me. Some of the advice was a good reminder of things I've probably let slip, and some of the advice was genuinely novel and will be pragmatically useful when I utilize it. As for how I'm doing I'm not as raw as when I wrote that letter, it may be cliché to say but I'm doing as best I can and taking it day by day. …”

If you ever want to write me, details on how to do so are here.

Alright folks. A couple reminders about some stuff and a few links and that’ll be it for today.

Again, I’m now offering manuscript consultations for nonfiction writers, via The Workroom. Details here:

Also just re-sharing my recently announced class, which will take place over two Saturdays next March, and is focused on revision.

Via The Handbasket, this was a great roundup of some worthwhile independent media orgs you can consider checking out …

I’ll mention a few more, like the Bay Area’s recently-ish launched Coyote …

Also for climate change coverage, Heatmap …

Mentioned in the above, The Barbed Wire — out of Texas — has been doing some great lately …

Periodic reminder that the kids are alright …

Speaking of Proxy, I enjoyed the show’s recent season finale (on the role of anger in sustaining activism):

Also I adored this We Can Do Hard Things with Rosie (what a legend) …

Okay, that’s it for now.

Sending love,
Sandy

p.s. If you like my work and want it to continue on, consider contributing any amount to my Buy Me a Coffee. My suggested for those who can is $5 a month or more. Thanks so much!!

p.p.s. If you’re someone who’s already giving $5 a month or more (which: THANK YOU), consider filling out my brief new survey about potential perks for you all … I’m curious what’s most appealing.

Thanks for reading What’s Helping Today, a newsletter by me — author and journalist Sandy Ernest Allen. If you were forwarded this message, What’s Helping Today is totally free; you can subscribe here.