You absolutely perfectly captured the agony and the ecstasy of living in this wonderful horrible country in 2026. Let’s keep fighting the good fight together.🙏❤️🙏
There are so many of us hurting these days. It was genuinely amazing because I met a couple who lives in Switzerland, she’s Chinese American and he’s German, and they were both lamenting what’s happening here. I met a man from Houston who said, “I hate MAGA” before I’d said my name. I met a couple who met each other working for Diane Feinstein in Washington. It wasn’t a scientific study, but I had a sense people wanted to connect on a real level and have conversations that mattered. It was a relief. Love you, Susan. We shall fight continue to fight the good fight 🔥❤️🩹
"I looked at the guy from my hometown. I said, “I know what you mean, but do you ever think that maybe…” and then I stopped, because there’s a difference between not liking small talk, and saying the most depressing thing imaginable to a stranger."
👋 It me. I'm the mayor of radical unfortunatism. Great at parties. 🫠
I have tact, though. And I've learned to buffer my talent with humor. Laughs for them now, unrest later after I have fled the scene, and blame.
Keep singing the truths, Ally. Keep pointing to the awe. ❤️
Hahaha...same. I feel like our time to really shine is upon us, which is odd because...WTFOMGBBQ. It was a tough go when things were mindfuck "normal." But we know our worth now, we value truth above all, and we are called to aid others in times of crisis.
I was thinking about it on the drive home, and it’s so much more human to be talking to people about how they feel instead of what they do. I think in the current environment, many people don’t seem to be bothering with pretense and for highly sensitive people, that is such a relief.
There is something life-changing about Big Sur. In 2012 or thereabouts I went to the Esalen Institute for a writing workshop with the incredible Ellen Bass. It was a time in which I was trying to break through all the habits and personal barriers (I signed up for a writing workshop even though I wasn't writing anything, I traveled with strangers, I slept in a room with other people without a fan or medication, I went nude into a communal hot springs overlooking the ocean and the otters and shooting stars!) and that magical place, that place that absolutely belongs to all of us, literally changed my whole life.
I grew up in California (Santa Barbara) and the beaches are open, the businesses are largely across the street and one can access miles of shoreline unimpeded. A few years ago I found myself in Florida in the winters in my RV to do art festivals. I was in a different town every weekend, somewhere along the coast. It blew my mind that you could drive for miles and miles on the coastal roads and NEVER glimpse the ocean, the homes and condos and private areas are built all the way out to the water. The ocean access areas are tiny and sporadic. I thought how on earth was this allowed to be? This ownership of all the coastline? The exclusivity of natural places?
I loved your comments. Comfort and growth rarely go together, and you reminded me of the experience of moving from NYC to Los Angeles in 2001. It was so uncomfortable and lonely. I wanted to go home badly a few times, but I knew I should stay and let myself be uncomfortable. Best thing I ever did for myself.
And that’s it, exactly. I hope I am never NOT appalled at the kind of person who arrives on this beautiful planet, a planet that was here long before they were, and will be here long after they go — a planet they had no hand in creating — and feels somehow entitled to make rules. Plant flags. Deny access to some people. It’s literal insanity. Delusions of grandeur.
THAT’S what you’re going to do with your one wild and precious life? Spend it policing other people and trying to hoard things you can’t take with you? Unreal. Also pathetic. But infuriating when people like that have more power than they should. Thanks for being here, Jenifer ❤️
I am currently on a train at the end of a long journey, back to my fairy tale Copenhagen heart home, typing in my phone, so expect typos. I’m also have conversation with a mama who is about to send her first baby bird out into the wild and she’s teary and I’m teary and I’m reading this and now it’s all just messy. The image of the weight of it all pushing girls and women into the earth, pushing, pushing. Motherfuckers we are seeds. We are roots. We will wait until the time is right and push through the earth and break your bones. Brilliant stuff Ally.
My daughter is so much on my mind these days for so many reasons, as you know. The incandescent rage I feel that this administration is rife with insecure and therefore dangerous men who do not think of her (or any woman or member of any marginalized group) as a fully embodied human being deserving of all the rights and respect freely bestowed upon her brother makes me want to scorch the earth, Dina.
To hear Todd Blanche, casually talking about girls and women dying. Their plans for that, and how it’s too bad it’s taking longer than they’d hoped, but they’re on it? Yeah. Maybe they should start praying the “witches” don’t get them, after all. Sending you love, friend. We shall overcome.
My heart aches for where we find ourselves, especially those of us who saw it coming and begged people to pick a different escalator, or take the stairs. So many of those people are still smugly holding onto the decision like it was a good one, no matter how many AI data centers get built, no matter how many children go hungry, no matter how many laws are broken, or what fresh news story comes out each day. ~ This!
And yet, your writing still gives me hope. I've done that ride up and down the CA coast a few times. It's one of the many magnificent parts of our country that look so unreal, there is no other way to believe that there is something bigger than us out there.
I try very hard to find the good and the joy, but there is an underlying melancholy during my days. I know I have a lot of company which makes me even sadder. I've prayed harder than I ever have, maybe I should just ask, like you did before the whale appeared. It is my birthday month. Stay tuned.
If that coast doesn’t humble you, nothing will, right? There are a number of places I’ve experienced like that, where I just have to sit and behold. Ultimately, I feel sorry for people who can be in the world, but not of it. People who could be somewhere like that, but not really be there because they’re thinking about how to plant a flag.
I’m so tired of them right now, though. They’ve become dangerous and it’s painful. I think melancholy underneath the rhythm of our days or interwoven into them is kind of the norm for people like us at the moment, but I still think we will overcome, and I’m not some blindly hopeful, Pollyanna person. I simply believe in my heart there are more of us, Debbie. More of us who don’t want it to be this way.
And that whale moment will forever be one of the greatest of my life. In a million years I had zero expectations, and I’ll never know what inspired me to close my eyes and “make a wish” but I’ll tell you, the lesson of “ask for what you want” sure did stay with me 😳😂
It never hurts to ask, maybe we should all close our eyes and ask, and maybe while we’re at it, we should ask the whales and dolphins to help us, too. We could use all the help 🐋🐬🙏🏼 Happy Birthday month to you, friend ✨
I started nodding in agreement at the drive on the windy road and the reverence for nature. I was nodding at every point in the essay that resonated with me (I was a single dad with my daughter living with me from the time she was 11-21 — so even parenting nods!). By the end of the piece, I was whiplashing in resonance. (Especially at the point of the dining table and testing the water to see if you are with likeminded folks.) Just beautiful writing, Ally.
Beautiful and poignant as always Ally. If we’re experiencing any hope at all out here it’s because of writers like you who have the talent and courage and heart to dig deep, tell the ugly truth, and still bring us back to what’s worth fighting for. ❤️
I have gotten to the point where i take a deep breath and find the space before i start reading you, because i know i am going to feel all the things, and i also know i am not going to be able to stop before i've read the whole thing.
The part about the things you do not understand: 100% SAME thank you for putting it into words.
Your writing gives voice to the humanity in all of us. All of us... i really, truly believe that. It's so deeply buried, in some. I wish they would read things that helped dig them out, instead of watching things that bury them deeper.
I run out of words before i run out of feelings. Thank you. You're a gift.
You made me cry, Matt. In a very good way. Thank you, I appreciate you so much. I wish that, too. It would be a different world if all the people who are so angry and closed off and full of hatred and fear would suddenly reset and release and go sit by a tree somewhere. It’s such a shame, and such a waste of time and resources. All of our energy and all the people suffering and just all this angst when it could be so beautiful.
Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for being someone who feels things deeply, and thank you for being here. I’m grateful for you.
I third that perfect! (Or whatever number we’re up to!) I have driven up the PCH from LA to San Francisco through Big Sur once in my life and it was a life changing experience. Such majestic, vast, gorgeous nature. I would love to spend more time there. I agree 100% with everything you said and am so grateful for all you write and all the hope you give. You make everything better by being you and writing here. ❤️ All good witches feel and know it’s time to take to our brooms. 🧹✨
It really is an outrageous drive. It’s one of those drives that’s worth doing even if you don’t have a reason to head in that direction. Or maybe a better way of saying it is there’s always a reason to head in that direction!
And thank you. It means so much to me that this one landed because it came from a very tender place. Not that they don’t always, but somehow this week I just felt a real sense of hope and mourning in equal parts, and of course y’all run to meet me right in the center of it because you’re the best. I wish I could hug the whole comments section, I’m so grateful. Thank you for being here, Jennifer🙏🏼❤️🩹
The first time I saw the Pacific Ocean I was close to thirty. I've lived in the Eastern states most of my life, love the New England coast, and the wide Atlantic. I couldn't imagine anything more beautiful.
But the Pacific was something else. I knew it was the bigger of the two oceans, but I didn't expect it to actually look bigger. The sky seemed higher, the waves brighter, the marine life more magical.
Maybe there will be an electoral miracle come November 3rd, and we'll all wake up on the 4th with the debris of the last few years ready to be cleared away, and we can start to rebuild and heal.
That’s what I’m hoping for, too, with my whole self. A huge turnout in November, and a slow and steady rebuild with a new and better vision🙏🏼🙏🏼❤️🩹
And I know what you mean about the Atlantic and the Pacific. I went to the Jersey Shore as a kid, and have the *best* memories with my grandma and my cousins. Then later I went to the Hamptons and Cape Cod, and the beaches are stunning. Cape Cod in the fall and spring when no one is there? The lighthouses? Insanity.
But it is true, the Pacific is in technicolor, especially in NorCal. It looked teal in places, not even turquoise. It doesn’t seem possible, given the way we treat the planet, but in spite of us, my goodness. Sending you giant hugs, friend. And a lot of hope for better tides ahead 🌊🙏🏼
I so love my small city. While my husband has been recovering from a hip replacement the manager of the convenience store/gas station where he gets his morning coffee offered to come help us if we needed her. She has a new baby and she said Mary can hold the baby and she would help in any way needed. Another friend put us in touch with a family to mow our lawn. They will be here early in the morning and do a fabulous job at a fair price. People looking out for people. That is how it should be. ❤️
I love that, Mary. You get that in your apartment buildings in NYC with your neighbors across the hall, and in your local neighborhood if you live somewhere a long time.
In Santa Monica (or Los Angeles, generally), I find it’s more about interests than anything else. That’s definitely how I found my people out here. So maybe Santa Monica is just big enough to “size out” of the small town feel, unfortunately. I’m so glad people are showing up for you right now, Mary. I hope your husband is on the mend! Sending you a lot of love ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
The most perfect thing I’ve read recently.
Thank you so much, Michelle.
Thank you, that was beautiful.
Thank you for being here, Stephen.
Thanks for the expert landing there, Ally. You managed to gently glide us into hope. The whale. The plane! Love you so.
Can’t ever think of whales without thinking of you. A good thing. Thank you, Kendall 💙
Love you so, too!!
I second that perfect!
Thanks so much, Heidi, I appreciate you❤️
I third that perfect. Scary sad times but you make me feel not so alone with it all Ally 🙏
Thank you for making my day, Cathy🙏🏼❤️🩹❤️🩹
You absolutely perfectly captured the agony and the ecstasy of living in this wonderful horrible country in 2026. Let’s keep fighting the good fight together.🙏❤️🙏
There are so many of us hurting these days. It was genuinely amazing because I met a couple who lives in Switzerland, she’s Chinese American and he’s German, and they were both lamenting what’s happening here. I met a man from Houston who said, “I hate MAGA” before I’d said my name. I met a couple who met each other working for Diane Feinstein in Washington. It wasn’t a scientific study, but I had a sense people wanted to connect on a real level and have conversations that mattered. It was a relief. Love you, Susan. We shall fight continue to fight the good fight 🔥❤️🩹
"I looked at the guy from my hometown. I said, “I know what you mean, but do you ever think that maybe…” and then I stopped, because there’s a difference between not liking small talk, and saying the most depressing thing imaginable to a stranger."
👋 It me. I'm the mayor of radical unfortunatism. Great at parties. 🫠
I have tact, though. And I've learned to buffer my talent with humor. Laughs for them now, unrest later after I have fled the scene, and blame.
Keep singing the truths, Ally. Keep pointing to the awe. ❤️
You’re the kind of person I’d seek out at a wedding where I didn’t know anyone, lol. You would have loved the Russian Revolution table.
Hahaha...same. I feel like our time to really shine is upon us, which is odd because...WTFOMGBBQ. It was a tough go when things were mindfuck "normal." But we know our worth now, we value truth above all, and we are called to aid others in times of crisis.
I was thinking about it on the drive home, and it’s so much more human to be talking to people about how they feel instead of what they do. I think in the current environment, many people don’t seem to be bothering with pretense and for highly sensitive people, that is such a relief.
Thank you!
Thank you for being here, Johnelle!
There is something life-changing about Big Sur. In 2012 or thereabouts I went to the Esalen Institute for a writing workshop with the incredible Ellen Bass. It was a time in which I was trying to break through all the habits and personal barriers (I signed up for a writing workshop even though I wasn't writing anything, I traveled with strangers, I slept in a room with other people without a fan or medication, I went nude into a communal hot springs overlooking the ocean and the otters and shooting stars!) and that magical place, that place that absolutely belongs to all of us, literally changed my whole life.
I grew up in California (Santa Barbara) and the beaches are open, the businesses are largely across the street and one can access miles of shoreline unimpeded. A few years ago I found myself in Florida in the winters in my RV to do art festivals. I was in a different town every weekend, somewhere along the coast. It blew my mind that you could drive for miles and miles on the coastal roads and NEVER glimpse the ocean, the homes and condos and private areas are built all the way out to the water. The ocean access areas are tiny and sporadic. I thought how on earth was this allowed to be? This ownership of all the coastline? The exclusivity of natural places?
I loved your comments. Comfort and growth rarely go together, and you reminded me of the experience of moving from NYC to Los Angeles in 2001. It was so uncomfortable and lonely. I wanted to go home badly a few times, but I knew I should stay and let myself be uncomfortable. Best thing I ever did for myself.
And that’s it, exactly. I hope I am never NOT appalled at the kind of person who arrives on this beautiful planet, a planet that was here long before they were, and will be here long after they go — a planet they had no hand in creating — and feels somehow entitled to make rules. Plant flags. Deny access to some people. It’s literal insanity. Delusions of grandeur.
THAT’S what you’re going to do with your one wild and precious life? Spend it policing other people and trying to hoard things you can’t take with you? Unreal. Also pathetic. But infuriating when people like that have more power than they should. Thanks for being here, Jenifer ❤️
I am currently on a train at the end of a long journey, back to my fairy tale Copenhagen heart home, typing in my phone, so expect typos. I’m also have conversation with a mama who is about to send her first baby bird out into the wild and she’s teary and I’m teary and I’m reading this and now it’s all just messy. The image of the weight of it all pushing girls and women into the earth, pushing, pushing. Motherfuckers we are seeds. We are roots. We will wait until the time is right and push through the earth and break your bones. Brilliant stuff Ally.
My daughter is so much on my mind these days for so many reasons, as you know. The incandescent rage I feel that this administration is rife with insecure and therefore dangerous men who do not think of her (or any woman or member of any marginalized group) as a fully embodied human being deserving of all the rights and respect freely bestowed upon her brother makes me want to scorch the earth, Dina.
To hear Todd Blanche, casually talking about girls and women dying. Their plans for that, and how it’s too bad it’s taking longer than they’d hoped, but they’re on it? Yeah. Maybe they should start praying the “witches” don’t get them, after all. Sending you love, friend. We shall overcome.
My heart aches for where we find ourselves, especially those of us who saw it coming and begged people to pick a different escalator, or take the stairs. So many of those people are still smugly holding onto the decision like it was a good one, no matter how many AI data centers get built, no matter how many children go hungry, no matter how many laws are broken, or what fresh news story comes out each day. ~ This!
And yet, your writing still gives me hope. I've done that ride up and down the CA coast a few times. It's one of the many magnificent parts of our country that look so unreal, there is no other way to believe that there is something bigger than us out there.
I try very hard to find the good and the joy, but there is an underlying melancholy during my days. I know I have a lot of company which makes me even sadder. I've prayed harder than I ever have, maybe I should just ask, like you did before the whale appeared. It is my birthday month. Stay tuned.
Thank you, Ally. 🩷
If that coast doesn’t humble you, nothing will, right? There are a number of places I’ve experienced like that, where I just have to sit and behold. Ultimately, I feel sorry for people who can be in the world, but not of it. People who could be somewhere like that, but not really be there because they’re thinking about how to plant a flag.
I’m so tired of them right now, though. They’ve become dangerous and it’s painful. I think melancholy underneath the rhythm of our days or interwoven into them is kind of the norm for people like us at the moment, but I still think we will overcome, and I’m not some blindly hopeful, Pollyanna person. I simply believe in my heart there are more of us, Debbie. More of us who don’t want it to be this way.
And that whale moment will forever be one of the greatest of my life. In a million years I had zero expectations, and I’ll never know what inspired me to close my eyes and “make a wish” but I’ll tell you, the lesson of “ask for what you want” sure did stay with me 😳😂
It never hurts to ask, maybe we should all close our eyes and ask, and maybe while we’re at it, we should ask the whales and dolphins to help us, too. We could use all the help 🐋🐬🙏🏼 Happy Birthday month to you, friend ✨
I started nodding in agreement at the drive on the windy road and the reverence for nature. I was nodding at every point in the essay that resonated with me (I was a single dad with my daughter living with me from the time she was 11-21 — so even parenting nods!). By the end of the piece, I was whiplashing in resonance. (Especially at the point of the dining table and testing the water to see if you are with likeminded folks.) Just beautiful writing, Ally.
Thank you so much, Vince. Means a lot from you ❤️
Beautiful and poignant as always Ally. If we’re experiencing any hope at all out here it’s because of writers like you who have the talent and courage and heart to dig deep, tell the ugly truth, and still bring us back to what’s worth fighting for. ❤️
Aw Kate, thank you and right back at you, friend. Your writing has saved me many days 🙏🏼❤️🩹❤️
I have gotten to the point where i take a deep breath and find the space before i start reading you, because i know i am going to feel all the things, and i also know i am not going to be able to stop before i've read the whole thing.
The part about the things you do not understand: 100% SAME thank you for putting it into words.
Your writing gives voice to the humanity in all of us. All of us... i really, truly believe that. It's so deeply buried, in some. I wish they would read things that helped dig them out, instead of watching things that bury them deeper.
I run out of words before i run out of feelings. Thank you. You're a gift.
You made me cry, Matt. In a very good way. Thank you, I appreciate you so much. I wish that, too. It would be a different world if all the people who are so angry and closed off and full of hatred and fear would suddenly reset and release and go sit by a tree somewhere. It’s such a shame, and such a waste of time and resources. All of our energy and all the people suffering and just all this angst when it could be so beautiful.
Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for being someone who feels things deeply, and thank you for being here. I’m grateful for you.
I third that perfect! (Or whatever number we’re up to!) I have driven up the PCH from LA to San Francisco through Big Sur once in my life and it was a life changing experience. Such majestic, vast, gorgeous nature. I would love to spend more time there. I agree 100% with everything you said and am so grateful for all you write and all the hope you give. You make everything better by being you and writing here. ❤️ All good witches feel and know it’s time to take to our brooms. 🧹✨
It really is an outrageous drive. It’s one of those drives that’s worth doing even if you don’t have a reason to head in that direction. Or maybe a better way of saying it is there’s always a reason to head in that direction!
And thank you. It means so much to me that this one landed because it came from a very tender place. Not that they don’t always, but somehow this week I just felt a real sense of hope and mourning in equal parts, and of course y’all run to meet me right in the center of it because you’re the best. I wish I could hug the whole comments section, I’m so grateful. Thank you for being here, Jennifer🙏🏼❤️🩹
The first time I saw the Pacific Ocean I was close to thirty. I've lived in the Eastern states most of my life, love the New England coast, and the wide Atlantic. I couldn't imagine anything more beautiful.
But the Pacific was something else. I knew it was the bigger of the two oceans, but I didn't expect it to actually look bigger. The sky seemed higher, the waves brighter, the marine life more magical.
Maybe there will be an electoral miracle come November 3rd, and we'll all wake up on the 4th with the debris of the last few years ready to be cleared away, and we can start to rebuild and heal.
That's what I'm hoping for...
That’s what I’m hoping for, too, with my whole self. A huge turnout in November, and a slow and steady rebuild with a new and better vision🙏🏼🙏🏼❤️🩹
And I know what you mean about the Atlantic and the Pacific. I went to the Jersey Shore as a kid, and have the *best* memories with my grandma and my cousins. Then later I went to the Hamptons and Cape Cod, and the beaches are stunning. Cape Cod in the fall and spring when no one is there? The lighthouses? Insanity.
But it is true, the Pacific is in technicolor, especially in NorCal. It looked teal in places, not even turquoise. It doesn’t seem possible, given the way we treat the planet, but in spite of us, my goodness. Sending you giant hugs, friend. And a lot of hope for better tides ahead 🌊🙏🏼
I so love my small city. While my husband has been recovering from a hip replacement the manager of the convenience store/gas station where he gets his morning coffee offered to come help us if we needed her. She has a new baby and she said Mary can hold the baby and she would help in any way needed. Another friend put us in touch with a family to mow our lawn. They will be here early in the morning and do a fabulous job at a fair price. People looking out for people. That is how it should be. ❤️
I love that, Mary. You get that in your apartment buildings in NYC with your neighbors across the hall, and in your local neighborhood if you live somewhere a long time.
In Santa Monica (or Los Angeles, generally), I find it’s more about interests than anything else. That’s definitely how I found my people out here. So maybe Santa Monica is just big enough to “size out” of the small town feel, unfortunately. I’m so glad people are showing up for you right now, Mary. I hope your husband is on the mend! Sending you a lot of love ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹