Doom scrolling the other day I noticed not for the first time, the high-voltage passion with which people engage in content that has some kind of social change conscience to it. There are strong opinions, judgments and deep concern about a range of issues, the most recent being the human tragedy of Palestine.

Who wants to be normal? It was a question I often asked myself in my youth. Normal to me meant straight, mainstream, suburbia. As a queer kid growing up without any role models, I didn’t know too much. But I knew this was not my thing.

We have a way, we humans, of breaking things into parts, as a way to understand what’s happening.

Are you truly listening? Or is there something going on for you which is undermining your support of this person speaking to you?