L.J.
existentialease.bsky.social
L.J.
@existentialease.bsky.social
MDiv (YDS), writer (Hollins U), recovery nerd, minister by vocation though not (yet) by title.
Pinned
Reflections on #thegoodplace and whether it's really possible to utterly apart.

"I never let go of you. We were never separate. Content warning: mortality, death, and spoilers for The Good Place. Hang onto your hats, it's about to get spiritual in here!"
open.substack.com/pub/existent...
Reposted by L.J.
In these trying times, I don't know much. But I do know this: when pizza's on a bagel, you can have pizza any time.
December 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
December 1, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Mood
Toad took all of the buttons out of his pockets.
November 30, 2025 at 2:15 AM
I can't get Nonmonogamummy out of my head! 🎶
November 13, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Good news: Our thoughts and feelings aren't what define our character. It's what we DO with our thoughts and feelings.

Embracing the shadow; our thoughts do not define us. "Last year someone I trusted intentionally harmed me, and I was so angry it scared me."
open.substack.com/pub/existent...
November 11, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Reflections on #thegoodplace and whether it's really possible to utterly apart.

"I never let go of you. We were never separate. Content warning: mortality, death, and spoilers for The Good Place. Hang onto your hats, it's about to get spiritual in here!"
open.substack.com/pub/existent...
November 11, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by L.J.
Sometimes I feel like a furniture store, like it’s either grand opening energy or everything must go energy and there’s just no in between anymore
September 12, 2025 at 2:07 PM
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Prudenci Bertrana Compte,a significant Catalan painter and writer, was trained at the Escola Llotja in Barcelona. This work from around 1917 shows the houses on the River Onyar in Girona and the Basilica of Saint Felix.
September 12, 2025 at 8:50 PM
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Tonight I weep and grieve because neither little ones in Gaza nor elders in Colorado should be burned because of the impact and consequences of Israeli apartheid.

Palestine should be free, Gaza should live, and our Jewish kin should be free from harm. Period.
June 2, 2025 at 3:25 AM
May 14, 2025 at 5:34 PM
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I want politics to be about a better everyday life.

Here's what that can look like:
April 24, 2025 at 7:20 PM
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This is Tuna. You have once again taken him to the vet instead of the park. Fool him once, shame on you. Fool him twice, even more shame on you. 13/10 (IG: tunathekahuna)
April 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
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what do you want
April 17, 2025 at 1:12 PM
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When everything gets overwhelming, I make a point to seek out the natural world.

The trees and mountains stand witness to the fact that every despot and petty tyrant is nothing to the grandness of it all.

It truly is healing to me.

Blue Mountain - Missoula, Montana
April 13, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by L.J.
Zooey is doing WORK in Montana and teaching everyone several lessons:

1) You can stand on your values as a Democrat and not harm trans people.

2) Doing so can actually move hearts and minds in a traditionally conservative state.

3) There is value in having representation in our halls of power.
Two more wins for trans people in Montana!

(1) A bill creating a new "indecent exposure" crime for trans people was amended to remove the anti-trans provision.

(2) A bill allowing detransitoners to sue their doctor was amended to only be valid if the doctors didn't follow medical best practices.
April 9, 2025 at 11:00 PM
TERF-ism is oxymoronic as it seems increasingly clear that transphobia is deeply misogynistic.
April 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
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MAJOR Victory in Montana!

Bill that would criminalize parents with felony child endangerment DIES in Montana after 15 Republicans cross party lines.

The bill would have criminalized even parents of trans kids driving through the state.

It died after nonbinary rep Howell delivered a strong speech.
April 8, 2025 at 8:03 PM
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I’m seeing a lot of negative reviews on games along the lines of “this isn’t exactly what I wanted, even though it was exactly what was promised”.

I can’t overstate how much more joy you will have if you allow art to unfurl in front of you, instead of demanding it be what you imagine you want.
March 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Anxiety + Joy this week on
Existentialease.substack.com
March 30, 2025 at 12:31 AM
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“I insist on being shocked. I am never going to become immune. I think that’s a kind of failure to see so much of it that you die inside. I want to be surprised and shocked every time.”
― Toni Morrison
March 26, 2025 at 11:33 PM
JAPANESE CHIN ALERT!!
We only rate dogs. This is a gremlin that just worked a double shift. Not sure they should be driving. Please offer them a lift, and only send dogs. Thank you… 13/10
March 28, 2025 at 12:54 AM
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Tucson, Arizona today.

Original projected attendance was 3,000 people.

23,000 showed up.
March 22, 2025 at 9:10 PM
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I’m so grateful that art exists, it helps me with so many tough times like literally
March 6, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Ummmm WTAF Gavin?
1. OPINION: Governor Newsom’s Depraved MAGA Betrayal Mandates Mass Resistance From LGBTQ+ Californians.

Newsom's transphobic rhetoric in his interview with Charlie Kirk is an attack on Californian democracy that must be met with resistance from LGBTQ people.

www.madycast.com/p/opinion-go...
Opinion | Governor Newsom’s Depraved MAGA Betrayal Mandates Mass Resistance From LGBTQ+ Californians
Newsom’s capricious rhetoric attacking LGBTQ+ Californians will be met by massive protest and resistance from within his state, and activists must mobilize to end his political future.
www.madycast.com
March 7, 2025 at 2:42 AM
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Crockett: We had an opportunity to have a woman lead this country and I promise you, she would have led us to the promised land. But instead we got somebody that seems like he wants to take to us hell
March 4, 2025 at 8:08 PM