Resistance doesn’t always wear a mask or hold a sign.
Sometimes it wears smeared eyeliner, over-ear headphones, and a “Don’t talk to me until I’ve processed the systemic failure” mug.
Because in a world where harm hides behind policy drafts and good intentions,
sometimes the most radical act is to stay awake, stay weird, and not let them make you numb.
We’re sold this one-note image of resistance: loud, sweaty, visible.
It’s street chants and raised fists and the tear gas selfie that goes viral.
And yes—sometimes it absolutely is.
But if that’s the only image you’re given, you start to miss the quieter rebellions.
The subtle saboteurs. The holy weirdos.
Let’s broaden the resistance palette.
🧠 Cognitive Dissent
This is the refusal to assimilate.
It’s sitting in a meeting while everyone nods at the toxic talking points and whispering to yourself, “This is horseshit.”
It’s the choice to remain un-gaslit.
It’s knowing that “not everyone meant harm” doesn’t erase the harm.
And it’s protecting your clarity like it’s sacred—because it is.
🛋️ Emotional Hygiene as Rebellion
You know what really messes with a system designed to burn you out?
Rest.
Joy. Laughter. Mutual aid.
Choosing tenderness instead of armor.
Going to therapy is resistance. So is skipping therapy to sit in the sun and cry.
Resistance is also:
- Unsubscribing from hustle culture
- Refusing to guilt yourself for needing recovery
- Creating art without monetizing it
🎭 Strategic Performance
Sometimes you have to play along just long enough to reroute the game.
This is:
- Smiling while documenting.
- Wearing “business casual” while scheduling a revolution.
- Using corporate buzzwords to sneak in human-centered policies.
- Being underestimated just long enough to get the upper hand.
🚨 Absurdist Rebellion
If the world’s gonna be nonsense, might as well beat them at their own game.
This is sacred clowning.
Dadaist protest signs.
Calling yourself a cult to avoid being one.
It’s laughing mid-collapse, not because you don’t care—but because you do, and this is how you survive it.
🐙 Messy, Imperfect, Unapologetic Survival
Still here? That’s resistance.
Showing up with your neurospice, your trauma, your chronic pain, your heartbreak, and saying, “Nope. I still matter.”
That’s revolution.
This is:
- ADHD folks refusing shame spirals.
- Disabled folks asking (again) for the things they were promised.
- Queer folks demanding joy, not just tolerance.
- Every single person who chooses truth over politeness.
Resistance Is a Collage, Not a Single Image
Yes, sometimes it’s forms and spreadsheets and timestamped receipts.
Sometimes it’s also a meltdown, a protest nap, a chaotic zine, a truth bomb dropped at the worst possible moment.
It’s hard conversations. It’s poetry as record-keeping. It’s grief rituals and calling out bullshit with a smirk.
Let the records show:
We were here.
We saw it.
We named it.
We resisted in every weird, wild, loving way we knew how.
