Tim Kreider on giving

“A few nights ago my friend Margot called to try to cheer me — to remind me that, although things are admittedly not good on any front right now, they wouldn’t be that way forever — which I found touching, since I know very well that cheer is no more Margot’s default disposition than it is mine and she’s barely hanging in there herself. Maybe it’s just everyone’s job to take turns offering each other encouragement, to give each other the chance to break down and give vent to all our sorrow and hopelessness, staggering our episodes of despair so that humanity doesn’t all give up at the same time.”

— Tim Kreider (via)