“Anger is useful because it shows me what is hurting. But sadness shows me what is missing, what is needed.”

Everyone is grieving something. A loved one. A job. A sense of normalcy. Even in more typical times, Carvel Wallace writes on his Medium blog, everyday life is a process of accumulating griefs large and small. For him: “Influencers, gaining weight, stubbing my toe, cancer, homeless trans kids, TERFS, my homophobic uncle, an Ocean Vuong poem, Nina Simone.”

Sadness is inescapable, and that fact itself isn’t sad. Sadness has a purpose. It’s a contrast that defines and amplifies the good, but it’s also more than a pathway back to joy. Sadness is purpose.

“Brute strength tells you to fight,” Wallace writes. “But strength with grief tells you what to fight for: humanity, love, freedom, liberation, and an end to oppression for all the people our current system is harming.”

You Are Here #4: There’s Nothing Wrong With Being Sad