I would like to gently say that getting to vote for who you want to in a general election is the end result of a long process spanning probably multiple presidential elections

I'm not old, but I'm not young either; there's only one candidate in my lifetime I've gotten to vote for in primaries and then in the general. It's not a fun system, to understate a bit

It took me a while, but my current feeling is that the work you do in non-election years generates the candidates you want. It's not a clear or easy path between the two points by any means, and it might feel more detached than campaigning

You can't force people to vote for who you want, but you can force the issues that are important to you into the spotlight, and if you're able to organize and collectivize, you increase the chance that you'll get candidates who adopt your issue into their platform

We the people are very, very detached from systemic power. That kind of power is a thing over there, that other people have. It takes a lot of time and a lot of work and a lot of heartbreak to force them to pay attention

But that's where our power does lie, and it's not sexy and it's not as easy as being incredibly right online all the time, which we all obviously are. I am extremely cynical and very jaded but my projects are likely multigenerational

Acknowledging that truth is back-breaking sometimes, soul crushing. But every once in a while it reminds me that there is no true defeat because there are lifetimes after me that I will hopefully contribute to building towards justice

Shit does fucking suck because we're really far away from where we want to be, and it's difficult to see why and how the course could ever realistically change

But everything takes forever, and if you're willing to let yourself be guided by your values you will influence the world, you will build power, you will contribute, in spite of systems that want you silent and want you dead

Maybe you feel like we were on the precipice of something good, and now you have to readjust and start working from the ground up again. That's devastating, to feel that set back, and that's something to mourn

So take your time recovering, but there is a lot that you can do between now and four years from now to set future-you up to be able to vote the way you want to