I take solace in knowing that, even if I can only help just a little, it has to be enough. That's just how it works—I cannot give more of myself if it doesn't leave anything left behind. Because then I'd be dead, and I couldn't help anybody else.

I like to garden in my free time, and I've slowly converted all the abandoned flower beds in our townhouse block into gardens. Corn, beans, squash, carrots, onions and chives, (way too fucking many) raspberries, and a cross-section of fresh herbs in every bed to naturally ward off most pests (and be yim-yum). Free food! I think I harvest maybe 10 to 20% of it myself, and I turn it into chili. I tell the neighbors they can have some for free, and their friends can have some too, if they ask. It opens up conversations, and I know it's made a difference in some folks' lives.

One comrade cannot fix the whole planet. If you can't do a lot, a little is okay. You don't need to be personally executing landlords—giving your neighbor some soup helps, too.