It has been seven weeks since you heard from me. Since I last wrote on here, I have been so busy that I recorded my last episode of Lunch with Lindsay in late August; however, I did not get to share it here until today. If you read my post on my other blog, you know that I am Forcing Myself Off of the Hamster Wheel in order to make time to blog again.

My life and the world have changed so many times since I recorded this episode. When I conducted this interview with my former coworker Rocío, it was still summer, sunny, and warm in my area. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. At that point, the COVID-19 pandemic was the “only” major issue on her mind. As she and I were discussing what it is like work and parent during a public health crisis, we had no clue that about two weeks later there would be headlines like Gender-Reveal Celebration Is Blamed for a Wildfire. This Isn’t the First Time, which would greatly impact her state. I know someone else who lives in the Bay Area, and below is the video that he shared to show the impacts of the wildfire on the metropolitan area.

Just when my friends and I think we have developed effective systems for managing and responding to the multiple global and national crises of our time, there is a new crisis that arises. The noticeable trend with these crises is that they are all preventable, but they happened anyway because of faulty human decision-making.

If I am to think of my life beyond the last seven weeks and to think more broadly about my life since Fall 2018, it is accurate to say that I have been on a neverending climb. I alluded to these experiences in blog posts like Real Self-Care When Your Life Isn’t Paradise back in December 2018. As I read this old post and others, I remember that I already was managing multiple challenges way before my breast cancer diagnosis or the COVID-19 pandemic.

I know some people who are dramatically more privileged than I am and others who are extremely less resourced than I am. It reminds me that we are all In the Same Storm But Different Boats.

I do not have the energy to recount everything that has happened in different parts of my life in one blog post. It truly would take a series of posts to unpack how much transition has entered my life.

I am the Queen of Pivots, but I would like not to have so many reasons to pivot like a basketball player.

I see a lot of articles and blog posts out there that are meant to inspire people to stay resilient in strong times. I wonder if those same journalists and bloggers have also thought about encouraging systemic change so that so many people—especially those from more minoritized and marginalized backgrounds—did not have to consistently prove how strong, courageous, and persevering they are.

Since meeting me, many have told me that I am inspirational. That’s sweet. I’m flattered—but if I’m inspiring you, I hope that means you are doing all you can within your power to end systemic racism, sexism, ableism, classism, and other bigotry in healthcare, education, government, and other institutions in the United States and beyond.

When I think of the struggles that my loved ones and I have had to endure pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, I will expect more of the people who call me inspirational.

Inspiration is about more than having sympathy in your heart or an epiphany in your mind. Inspiration needs to lead to action, or it is not really inspiration. What do you feel inspired to do? How do you feel compelled to act? If someone were to look at your life, what evidence is there that you have done what you can to improve this country and the world?