resources

the fact that i (formerly) titled this section “harm reduction & self-help”, the fact that i originally planned to title this section “resources,” the fact that i appreciate the perspective of harm reduction in that it is meant to reduce negative consequences, the fact that i believe that the political and social justice frameworks of harm reduction provide a critical contrast to the individualism of self-help, the fact that harm reduction is grounded in community care, the fact that these are resources provided by and for communities, Self-care isn't enough. We need community care to thrive. the fact that George Elliot said “what do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?” the fact that Friedrich Nietzsche said that “to live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering,” the fact that i wish resources were communicated in this way, such as career resources, “these are resources that are meant to reduce the negative consequences of post-graduate life,” the fact that framing resources as 'harm reduction,' to me, seems to reduce the impact of unmet expecations, Laura Berlant's Cruel Optimism, the fact that the Drug Policy Alliance defines harm reduction as “a set of ideas and interventions that seek to reduce the harms associated with both drug use and ineffective, racialized drug policies,” the fact that i also titled this section “self-help” to highlight the ways in which these resources are limited in their efficacy by the world we live in, as individual agency is limited by social/cultural/political forces, Greta Mantleray, the fact that the article about Gloria Anzaldúa's spiritual framework titled “I'm a citizen of the universe”: Gloria Anzaldúa's Spiritual Activism as a Catalyst for Social Change does a great job of articulating the tensions of individual agency vs. external forces