Keeping Me Sane | 4.21.25
REMINDERS FROM OTHERS THAT I AM NOT ALONE IN FEELING SO BROKENHEARTED OVER THE STATE OF OUR COUNTRY AND THE WORLD
What a blessing of a man Pope Francis was! He was a man of humility, compassion, acceptance, peace, and mercy. And his tireless efforts and exhortations to care for the poor, his promotion of inter-religious dialogue, and his efforts to make the Church more welcoming for all stand in stark contrast to so much of what we see from other current leaders—religious and political.
He was a man after Jesus’s heart and I pray that the next Pope will expand Francis’s work of love and inclusion. May Pope Francis be just the beginning! And may the arc of the moral universe keep bending toward love, liberation, and justice!
Tom Hanks just called out society’s go-to coping mechanism—
Cynicism has become society’s default mode—and it’s easy to see why. It feels safer to be skeptical, to believe that sharp critiques or quick fixes are enough. But real progress doesn’t come from quick wins. It comes from effort, understanding, and working together.
Tom Hanks reminds us that while cynicism can feel natural, it doesn’t build anything. It makes us distrust, dismiss, and disconnect from the very people we need to solve problems with.
The harder—but more powerful—choice is hope. Not blind optimism, but the kind that shows up, engages, and listens. Real solutions start when we talk, not shut each other down.
This is an instant serotonin boost! Her costume and the other dogs make this one of my all-time favorite videos on Instagram.
But then they slow the video down, and it’s just SOOO GOOD! How is she jumping so high? And goodness, that joy on her face is contagious!
I really appreciated this article from Builders on identifying and combatting ragebait. I’ve recently been more intentionally curating and training my Instagram feed to help reduce my own outrage (when I’m not totally ignoring Instagram).
It’s also been so helpful for me to “interrogate the source”. Both strategies are so very necessary—
How To Resist Ragebait — Even When You’re Angry
Here are a few ways you can try to distinguish between unethical ragebait and more standard, reasonable types of reporting or activism:
Pause before reacting. Ask yourself: “Is this trying to inform me — or inflame me?”
Interrogate the source. Is the event in question a representative and meaningful one, or a one-off and/or fairly rare event that’s being used to provoke rage?
Train your feed. Mute, unfollow, or mark “not interested” on content that consistently amplifies outrage. Research shows that doing so can reduce animosity and improve your social media experience.
Respond constructively. Share solutions and bridge-building efforts, not just takedowns and hot takes.
Recognizing these features of ragebait helps you separate emotionally manipulative content from legitimate reporting or activism. When you pause to assess intent, scrutinize sources, and curate your feed, you’re not just protecting your own mental health. You’re avoiding adding fuel to our toxic divides — and you’re depriving unethical ragebait-makers of attention, and maybe even income. The more we practice this discernment, the harder it becomes for ragebait to hijack our attention and influence our emotions.
Have you seen this Colossal Squid yet?!
Up until now, this elusive, deep-sea species has mainly been encountered as prey remains, lodged deep inside whale and seabird stomachs. Dying adults have also previously been filmed by fishermen, but this newly obtained, high-resolution footage marks a momentous leap forward in the study of the enigmatic colossal squid. The video, which lasts about a minute and a half, was recorded via a remotely operated vehicle at a depth of 600 meters (around 2,254 feet), and showcases a juvenile colossal squid floating through the waters.
. . . Though a mere 30 centimeters (nearly 1 foot) in the video, the baby squid will eventually mature into the world’s heaviest invertebrate, measuring up to 23 feet long and 1,100 pounds. Its eyes alone can grow wider than a standard soccer ball. Still, little is currently known about the colossal squid’s life cycle, according to a statement issued by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, only increasing the critical insight this footage provides.
From My Modern Met
On Good Friday, I saw the photo above posted on Instagram and some of the creator’s words brought me to tears:
On this Good Friday, I wanted to name a specific kind of grief I’ve held for years. One that comes with being passionate about my faith, believing that it leads me to love my neighbors through the work of justice, and being labeled as divisive because of it.
In my case, I’ve been called a heathen (versus “divisive”) on multiple occasions, and while I won’t say that I’ve been persecuted for what I believe (because I will not align myself with that false perspective), I look around me and I can’t understand what has happened.
The good work of the cross, the good news of the Kingdom of God in the here and now, is—and always has been—a message of belonging, peace, and new life. When did that change?
I know the message hasn’t really changed; truth doesn’t change. Jesus’s message remains the same. But somewhere along the way, in the last twenty-plus years, His message has been so watered down and often blatantly ignored that I can’t reconcile the “now” with the “how I was raised”. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to reconcile it. I’m also not sure if I’ll ever stop trying to understand how it happened. But I do know that this change will never not be something I grieve.
And even when this message—this truth—is viewed as “woke” or divisive, I will never renounce it.
