On Finding Your Quest in Dark Times

An open letter

Dear Fellow Traveler,

I want to talk about something that's been weighing on me, and I suspect it's weighing on you too… this painful feeling that you’re not doing enough (or not doing the right thing) when it comes to everything happening in the world. As someone with a strong sense of morality, its been hard not to feel like I’m falling short in a time where showing up is so important.

So, as I was reflecting on this, I came across a video where someone said something to the effect of: ⭐“We’re allies, but we’re not on the same team.”

Think about Lord of the Rings (bear with me here, you non-LOTR fans). Think about the Fellowship and all the players in Middle-earth. Their collective mission was to see the fall of Sauron and the Ring destroyed…. but for that to happen, each person had their own quest to complete.

• Frodo and Sam had to carry the Ring to Mount Doom.

• Aragorn had to reclaim his throne and unite the forces of men.

• Gandalf had to rally the free peoples and face the enemy’s power.

• Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin started with one quest and rose to meet it as it changed… bringing together different forces across ancient divides.

• Even Boromir, who faltered and fell, played his part in protecting the hobbits and buying them time.

• And then there was Théoden, who told Éowyn to stay behind in Rohan to look after those who couldn’t fight, understood that someone had to keep hope alive within the community and hold things together while others went to battle.

They were all allies working toward the same end, but each had their own specific quest that made the larger victory possible.

We can find examples of this all throughout history.

In every great struggle, there are many battles to be fought, small and big. Some are fought with weapons… but many more are fought by people harboring refugees, spreading information, keeping farms running so others can eat, caring for the injured, maintaining the networks of communication and supply. Every time, in different ways, each person has their own quest… their own way to push the fight forward from wherever they are, with whatever capacity they have.

So what does this mean for you and I, right now?

⭐It means figuring out what quest you’re part of and how you can help move the world toward a better place.

• For those on the front lines, it’s direct resistance.

• For those with time and capacity, it’s protest and organizing.

• For parents, the quest is raising your children to be thoughtful, compassionate human beings in a world that often rewards cruelty and othering.

• For students, it’s learning to think critically, to question, to stay engaged with the world even when it feels overwhelming. To learn now to speak up.

• For seniors who may not be able to march, it’s sharing your wisdom and lived experience from other difficult times.

• For those with wealth, it’s donating to organizations that strengthen and uplift your community.

• For those of you in leadership, running an organization, managing a team… it's using your platform to speak up, to protect your people, and to make decisions that prioritize humanity over convenience.

• For those with family members and friends who are isolated or radicalized, it’s not giving up on the difficult conversations.

• For people trapped in a crushing job with little time left over, it’s staying informed and having small conversations where you can.

• For people struggling with their own health and survival, who might feel like they have nothing left to offer, it’s simply still being here, still holding on, still part of the community that tyranny is trying to break apart.

And, for those of us in the space in-between, it’s community building…. finding times to come together and care for one another. It’s being the one to take initiative and check in on that friend. It’s cooking a meal for someone who is struggling. It’s showing up to that community meeting. It’s creating spaces where people can gather, share resources, and remember they’re not alone.

It’s the potluck, the book club, the mutual aid network, the group chat that becomes a lifeline.

These small actions of care and connection are not secondary to the fight…. they are essential to it. Because community and joy are one of the antidotes to tyranny. Where tyranny seeks to isolate you and make you feel hopeless, and every act of coming together is an act of resistance.

However, it is important to understand that there’s a difference between finding your quest and rationalizing inaction.

Rationalizing inaction is when you can realistically be doing more.

✖️When you choose not to stay informed.
✖️When you pass up a conversation when you have the capacity to have it.
✖️When you have extra wealth and are not helping your communities.
✖️When you have space and you are not bringing together community.
✖️When you have extra time and you’re not volunteering or organizing or showing up.

This is not about forgoing rest or the necessities you need to be a whole human being. This is about recognizing that comfort and convenience are not the same as necessity.

Sometimes I think as a society we have become very good at rebranding convenience as boundary-setting and avoidance as protection. The person with time and resources who avoids the news because it’s ‘too depressing’ or skips difficult conversations because they’re awkward?

You’ve failed the quest. That’s choosing comfort over contribution.

So test yourself: If the main reason you’re not doing something is that it would be uncomfortable, awkward, or inconvenient… but you actually have the capacity or the resources or the ability… that’s probably rationalization. If the reason is that you genuinely don’t have the time, energy, money, or mental bandwidth after meeting your basic needs and maintaining your humanity, that’s a real limit. And real limits deserve respect.

So what is your responsibility?

It’s your responsibility to be informed about what’s going on in the world. Speak with those around you and find support and provide support. If you’re running an organization, it’s your responsibility to speak up. And if you can’t speak up publicly, do it in private spaces. Check in on people. Show up where you can.

Your quest might not look like someone else’s quest.

Sam couldn’t carry the Ring for Frodo, but he could carry Frodo. He didn’t pretend he was too tired when he wasn’t. He went to the edge of his actual capacity, not the edge of his comfort zone.

So I’m asking you… asking all of us, myself included… to be honest. What is your quest? What can you actually do with the capacity you actually have? Not the capacity you wish you had, not the capacity that would be convenient, but the real capacity you have right now.

And then, do it. Do your part. Not someone else’s part. Yours.

Martin Luther King Jr. said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. I believe that’s true…. but the arc doesn’t bend on its own. It bends because we push it, each from our own place, each with our own strength, each doing our own part.

I want justice and peace.

I love my neighbor if only for the fact that we are both going through this wonderful and painful thing together called human life. And… I believe that love and recognition of our shared humanity is what makes all of this matter.

So for now, for me, I will continue donating to organizations that strengthen and uplift my community. I will continue building community and finding opportunities for commiseration and joy and mutual aid. I will be ready to stand up if the fight comes to my proverbial door here in Seattle.

I will vote.

I will write.

I will speak up.

I will resist.

Because we are allies. We want the same world. And we need as many quests completed if we’re going to get there.

Find your quest. Do your part. Keep pushing.

With hope and solidarity,

Cp

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

―J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring