Take a break

"Run away with us for the summer, let's go Upstate"

Something I’ve been thinking a lot about is how the urgency of climate change makes it feel impossible to take a break. There is always an oil company trying to evade accountability, a bill that is about to get passed, people who need help getting organized. In some ways, the urgency is real. The climate crisis is a world-changing, imminent, and entirely preventable threat. Unlike many other issues, once we pass certain thresholds, we can’t return to them on human time scales.

At the same time, it’s impossible for a single person to be on 100% of the time. So, I’ve been thinking about the Hamilton song “Take a Break.” In a classic Lin-Manuel Miranda move, the titular protagonist, Alexander Hamilton, is an ambitious workaholic. Is this why I love Lin’s work? Perhaps. Anyway, the caveat of “Take a Break?” Angelica is presented as the reasonable, entirely in the right character. She’s here to remind us all of the importance of our summer break.

In another life, this was my favorite song, because of a romantic comma joke (iykyk). Seriously, impressive writing to make comma joke romantic at all… let alone do it IN THE MIDDLE OF A SONG.

Anyway, I digress. I’ve been trying to take Angelica’s advice and to run away for the summer and go upstate. I didn’t actually go upstate, but I did get to a family reunion and take a week off of climate culture :) Thanks for sticking with me.