My social media feed has been filled with violence.

It’s overwhelming and heartbreaking. Daniel Mate did an Instagram live recently that captured beautifully that heartbreak is a skill and we need to keep doing it, getting better at it and keep on caring through this genocide.

I keep thinking missiles, war and killing children do not create a home. This is not how to claim land. Caring for our mother, earth, earns us the right to be with it. It doesn’t belong to anyone.

We hear calls to how this is land is sacred and so each side deserves to live there thus kill for it. Murder, violence and oppression are not holy or loving.

I am also thrown by influencers sharing that it’s okay to take a break. Yes, that is important but we didn’t call for this for other causes that impact us closer to home. Shouting you are taking the break has the impact of saying it is okay not to care. You can quietly take the break, talk about the hurt with people in real life and be with community without telling every stranger to care less.

We must demand a ceasefire, then care for ourselves. So that we can keep hurting, yelling and caring. When we take breaks, we don’t have to announce it on social media and beckon others to care less.