SITTING IN THAT DISCOMFORT

True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline. - Marcus Garvey

There’s a scene in the movie ‘I love Boosters’ where the main character, corvette, played by Keke Palmer realizes her favorite red candy, ‘happy rustlers’, was all bought up by the fashion capitalist, christie, played by Demi Moore. There’s none left. Happy rustlers are the one thing that get her through the days of living in poverty and working hard and stressing about the ball of bills following her every move, waiting to crush her. When the plan to seek justice from christie starts to fall apart, christie makes it worse by recalling all the happy rustlers everywhere. Naturally, corvette crashes out.

And rightfully so, so would I. Who doesn’t love their quiet comfort through hard times? But here’s the thing, if we want to win, we’re going to have to be okay with not having our happy rustlers when shit gets tough.

Fran said it best in our podcast episode 9, “being able to sit in that uncomfortableness with your people and your community, it’s a big part of organizing a lot of us miss and it contributes to how well we are in our facilities.” In this moment in time I’m struggling with losing a lot of the comforts I once had or perceived to have or thought I would have in the future, a lot of us are in the United States.

I was finally working my dream job after getting laid off for my activism but in May 2025, the Trump administration defunded the program I was leading. Between that grief, living with chronic illness, and witnessing the rise of fascism, I find it impossible to picture the future. In the past, whenever I went through tough times I could picture the future and feel comfort in knowing that I will once again experience joy, success, freedom, love, comfort.

I’ve certainly known discomfort but this time feels different. This discomfort is alive almost every moment and it’s not just my own - i’m witnessing my neighbors struggle. Witnessing students be kidnapped by militarized police. Palestinians be bombed for 3+ years. The current admin gut anything that once felt like a safety net, anything that might actually help PEOPLE like emergency care during a flood and food benefits (i.e. Gary, Indiana currently). Expanded surveillance and policing. The destruction of sacred land and ecosystems for tech, oil, profits. We’re witnessing evil and greed on all sides and idk about you but I feel it in my bones.

Realistically, we (especially if you’re white and/or american like me) are going to have to get a loooottt more comfortable with discomfort, and quickly. If we continue to allow corporations and people with money to prioritize profit over people, it is more likely we will pay for their greed with our lives. When we cling to the comfort of ‘happy rustlers’ while witnessing horrific actions and decisions, we lose out on the opportunity to do something about it.

I’ve been working on becoming progressively more principled in my struggle, specifically more disciplined with my spending (rather lack of). Boycotting is actually one of the most pacifist types of protest and one of the most powerful. Every few months I find myself learning new information about a brand or product that is no longer ethical to use and I have to let go of that comfort.

One of the most principled men I know bluntly asked me, ‘is your short-lived comfort worth the bombing of children? Is that coca-cola worth it?’ That Amazon purchase just let Bezos that it’s still okay to exploit his workers. Yeah, maybe a trip to Target does sound fun, but tells CEOs it’s okay to stop investing in DEI. Sure, it would be easier to get the soil for our plants from Lowe’s or Home Depot but benefits so they can continue to partner with ICE and hunt our neighbors for sport. I could keep going, but you get my point.

I’ve found some joy in trying to find a locally-made, small business, ideally BIPOC owned, ideally woman owned - like a detective trying to solve a case. Testing myself to see what type of comfort I can go without. This isn’t some high horse rant, my boycotting is not perfect, but it is always progressively getting better. This is an invitation, if you’re not already boycotting, please begin, challenge yourself. If you already are, keep going and go deeper, add an extra brand or a new layer. We can struggle without the happy rustlers, I promise.

If we allow ourselves to experience discomfort by our own choice now, maybe it can build the muscle we need to get through when it is not our choice. True liberation is going to cost you something - what are you willing to give?