On Bravery
February 2026
from the other side of the screen
Editorial Column by Alexa Manning
Single woman looking for a hole to burrow in.
The world feels as though it is falling apart and reinventing itself every day. Conflicts rage, death tolls tick higher and higher. Cries for help come from every corner. And still, half the world’s population behaves as if they're completely oblivious. Red carpets roll, trends revolve faster and faster.
It’s enough to make someone feel overcome. I feel the dread climb up from my toes every day, clinging to the walls of my lungs and closing in at the throat. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels the primal urge to run and hide as a means for survival.
That’s not the brave thing to do, though, is it?
Even scholars of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table struggle to agree on a universal definition of bravery. It is a malleable concept that evolves with societal expectations, personal experiences, and circumstance. Not quite a feeling, bravery is a choice to persevere through fear in order to do the right thing.
Because fear is perhaps the most personal feeling of all, your bravery is completely unique to you.
Creating is an act of bravery, and creating art in purposeful resistance is another. Demonstrating, protesting, campaigning, remembering. Finding community when all you want to do is hide. These braveries add up, stacking the odds in favor of goodness.
So, when it all feels like too much to tackle, small acts of bravery and resistance add to the ever-growing movement. Share your art and writings. Re-post Renee Good’s poetry, maybe even add your own.
And in exchange, when I feel like folding myself up into a walnut shell, I will remember that ice melts. Fires die. Rain falls and flowers bloom. The fight is powered by Hope waiting at the finish line.
Single woman looking for a hole to burrow in.
Single woman looking for hope and for people to share it with.
