My social media feeds have been oscillating violently between hopeless literally just people sharing the news and hopeful pet reunions in LA and cute winter boots. Worse still, even after my unbanned TikTok FYP went back to normal, scrolling has also lost the passive mindlessness I crave now that I physically cannot stop myself from thinking about how my data is being sold to the highest bidder.
Meanwhile, in reality, the Trump Administration has taken to the shock doctrine strategy a bit too eagerly. While authorizing ICE raids and accidentally declaring that everyone in America is a woman are not acts of deregulation and privatization although as I write this, the Senate has just confirmed a Treasury secretary who is expected to focus on deregulation , we can clearly see this administration favoring corporate interests while disadvantaging and disenfranchising citizens already.
You cannot consume it all. Yes, it is critical to stay informed and aware, but not at the expense of your sanity. This is the same practice I am trying to implement with this newsletter specifically. Without further ado: this week, we are focusing on something that still deserves our attention. Today, I talked with Abi Marin who wanted to share her experience living in Los Angeles this past month, what she has learned about herself and her adopted city, and how we can all continue to help those affected by the ongoing wildfires.
Abi Marin has lived in LA for 3. She's worked in music since high school and has gone on to work for some of the biggest and soon-to-be-biggest names in music. She is a karaoke bar regular, AMC A-Lister, dreamer of owning a conversation pit, victim of little treat culture, and one more inconvenience away from bleaching her eyebrows again. Since the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires broke out on January 7th, over 16, structures have reportedly been destroyed across 55, acres.
It can be easy, in times of immense tragedy, to look at the big picture to spare ourselves from having to grapple with the real human suffering that results from it.
