It’s getting scarier by the day, no one is going to deny that. Perhaps one advantage of being a bit older is having lived through times that had those around us thinking or indeed screaming and yelling that we had hit the End of Days… and somehow jogging on a bit longer until another End of Days pushed the last one off the front pages or the telly, or out of pub conversations.
In the UK, we might feel that we just got rid of probably the most dangerous government we ever had: while Starmer’s lot are widely regarded as, well, not 
much cop but better than the last lot, it doesn’t seem all that likely that they will cave in to the sort of batshit christofascism taking hold of the US. Then again, though, the people behind the scenes may not leave us alone for long.
Some people do, unfortunately, seem to be responding with pre-emptive hiding under the bed, hoping if they just keep quiet for a bit, the monsters will pass them by and hunt elsewhere. This isn’t going to do you any good. The monsters might be distracted, temporarily, by easier prey but sooner or later they will come back, even hungrier, because as far as they are concerned, too much harm is never enough.
It’s probably better to make noise, stand your ground, look for other good people to stand with and also to keep seeking out those moments of joy and all the little things that bring you strength and comfort. So I’m going to keep celebrating and shouting about the magnificently filthy Swinella and any other good books that come my way, keep trying to encourage those around me. and generally carry on having a little bit of rainbow somewhere close. Because after the storm, there will always be a rainbow.