Thirst: From The Editors
- What Thirst Tells Us
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What Thirst Tells Us
Our βThirstβ issue spotlights a fundamental truth: We all have needs.
2 MIN READ
May 18, 2023
When I was diagnosed with heart failure in 2019, my then cardiologist prescribed me a cocktail of medications, but she also restricted my sodium and liquid intake. To maximize the effectiveness of my medications, I would have to limit myself to 68 ounces of liquid daily.
Before then, Iβd never considered how much I drink in a given day, or whether I drink more when perspiring in summer than I do when snuggling under covers in winter. But suddenly, I had to measure every ounce going into my body so I wouldnβt exceed the 68-ounce limitβonly drinking when I was truly thirsty, rather than absentmindedly sipping water from the glass on my end table while I read or watched television at night. Thereβs something about having to pay closer attention to your bodyβs needs that makes you appreciate the importance of your bodyβs signals.
Ultimately, thatβs what thirst is: Your body alerting you to a need. If you choose to ignore that alert, there are consequencesβdehydration, disconnection, and disorientation. The global COVID-19 pandemic has served as an alert, a reminder that we need each other, along with organized activism, to overhaul the systems that arenβt meeting our needs. Whether itβs halting student loan repayments or putting a moratorium on evictions, we now know that our world can look different, so how can we achieve the equitable world we desire?
Our βThirstβ issue spotlights that fundamental truth: We all have needs. Thatβs a baseline characteristic of being human. And yet, we live in a world that shames people, especially those from marginalized communities, for vocalizing their needs and doing whateverβs necessary to meet them. Weβre destigmatizing that shame in this issue, whether itβs going into Jackson, Mississippi; Flint, Michigan; and the Navajo Nation to understand the connected crises that rob these communities of access to fresh water or following families in Mexico whose loved ones have disappeared without a trace or explanation.
Weβre also exploring what a world where our needs are met could look like. In that world, formerly incarcerated people would be treated with care and respect, and given the resources they need to survive. Weβd have a world without police, one that still prioritizes our individual and collective safety. And, beautifully, weβd have the unfettered time to gather at watering holes of all kinds where we can continue to envision this new world and organize around the issues that matter to us. Can you see this world? I can. And I hope that after you read about this world, youβll be ready to embrace your own thirst for building one that will serve us all better.
Be well,
Evette Dionne
΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Executive Editor
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Evette Dionne
is the executive editor at ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Media, where she leads ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Magazine. She is the former editor-in-chief at Bitch Media, and an award-winning journalist, pop culture critic, and magazine editor who covers culture and politics through the lenses of race, gender, class, and size. Her newest book, Weightless: Making Space for My Resilient Body and Soul, was published in December 2022 by Ecco. Sheβs also the author of Lifting As We Climb, which was longlisted for a National Book Award and won a Coretta Scott King author honor. Evette is based in Denver, and speaks English.
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