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John,

I find myself growing more and more disillusioned with my homeland. I truly am optimistic that things will improve for the common people eventually, but I think that it will happen *much* later than my own life, and that for now we're headed toward a truly miserable period of history.

I've been pondering what I should do about it. The debate I've had in my head has ultimately come down to a question of "fight or flight." After a lot of thinking, I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that I have to stay here and do my best to make a positive change from within the country, even if that means having a much more difficult life in the long run. I'm a professional artist and musician--it may be some lofty sense of pride or honor, but I feel like I'd be betraying the professions' thousands of years of history if I just ran off to somewhere quieter or safer instead of doubling down where civil unrest actually resides. Times like these are the entire reason we exist in the first place, after all. The people here are mentally sick right now, and they're in more dire need of art and abstract/critical thinking than anyone else on the planet.

The realization that I feel so strongly about staying, working and possibly one day *fighting* in this country has been difficult to digest, the past couple weeks. I feel energized and depressed about it, at the same time.

I figured I'd write you about these preliminary thoughts I've been having, and maybe write again later when I've figured a few more things out for myself. I'm curious also, what does resistance / revolution mean to you, where you live? Does your country have a similar kind of strife going on, or are things quieter for you? Write me back, and either way I'll send another letter in a while.

Best,
John