No more chaos, I’m exhausted:
Confession: I lettered this February’s chalkboard early because I felt compelled to take January’s off the porch before the month even ended. January’s message was cheeky, asking 2026 to be “Please good because I’m tired of chaos.” I guess I was overly optimistic when I lettered it, but of course, who could imagine. Not even one week into the first month of a new year we were knee-deep in ICE and other malfeasance from the White House with no sign of things getting any better. I yanked it off the porch.
A balm for February
It took me longer than usual to find the right message for February. I like humor—I have a dozen messages saved for future boards—but humor feels off. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy memes online, and we need to laugh, but not for this. Not for my front porch now. February is cold and heavy and often exhausting. Who needs more of that?
I usually don’t get political for my porch board, although you could argue that all writing, all art, is indeed political.
Love as resistance
So, this is what I came up with:
Help each other
Love everyone
Honor every heart
Every ray of light
Forgive
Simple. Loving. Fitting for the month of February and St. Valentine’s Day. A warm, light breath for the coldest month.
In Michigan today, the sun is out, even though it’s only 11 degrees. I sat in an upstairs window in my bra and soaked it up, a cup of green tea at my side. It felt wonderful. It felt like enough for today.
The world didn’t change because I sat in the sun, or because I wrote those words on a chalkboard, but my body softened. My breath slowed. And maybe someone walking past the porch will feel a small softening too.
In a season that asks so much of us, this is what I can offer: a reminder to help, to love, to honor, to forgive—and to notice the light when it shows up, even briefly.
All my chalkboards can be viewed on Pinterest
Thank you for visiting!
Linda is a novelist, poet and artist. Her second novel, Love and Other Incurable Ailments, is coming October 27, 2026, from Regal House Publishing: When an anxious overthinker finds discarded love letters, her fixation on a stranger pulls her straight into chaos, heartbreak, and the inconvenient unraveling of her carefully constructed life. Preorder the book!
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