Defined: Terms for Our Time

This collection exists because avoiding the conversation no longer feels like an option.

It exists because the same words—democracy, voting rights, equity, empathy—are being hollowed out in public. Turned into punchlines, slurs, or abstractions, even as their consequences remain painfully real.

It exists because there is too much at stake to just not say anything.

These ideas have to be part of everyday life. The dialogue matters. But lately, that dialogue gets really heavy, really fast. And constant heaviness has a way of shutting us down instead of opening things up.

It’s my hope that these definitions make room for conversations.

Not for shock value.

Not to provoke outrage.

But a nod at the knowing.

But because clarity has become inconvenient—and inconvenience is often the first thing demanded of people who are paying attention.

Language Is Not Neutral

Words don’t just describe reality. They shape what gets defended.

They shape whose lives are treated as negotiable.

When words lose their meaning, accountability follows close behind.

When facts are dismissed or distorted, our reality is at stake.

This collection takes familiar terms and refuses to treat them as vague, flexible, or up for endless reinterpretation. Not everything is subjective. Not every issue is a “difference of opinion.” Some things are foundational.

This Is Not About Balance

Defined: Terms for Our Time is not interested in false equivalence or polite detachment.

It’s rooted in the belief that caring about human dignity is not radical, and that being “woke” is not extremism.

There is frustration here.

There is urgency here.

There is an unapologetic refusal to normalize what should never have been acceptable in the first place.

Where These Words Belong

These definitions weren’t designed to live only on screens or in books.

They were made to exist where life actually happens.

On walls you pass every day.

On mugs you hold while processing the news.

On towels and tumblers in the spaces where conversations happen.

Because meaning-making doesn’t happen in theory.

It happens in kitchens. Offices. Long days. Small, repeated moments where disengagement would be easier but presence matters more.

That’s why each definition is available as a digital download, framed poster, mug, tumbler, and kitchen towel.

Not as decoration.

As reminders.

As encouragement.

Why I Made Defined: Terms for Our Time

This collection exists because silence just started to feel really weird. The proverbial elephant in the room. But sometimes, it’s all too much. So, perhaps it’s a Goldilocks attempt: not too much, not too little, hopefully just right. 

Because “everything will work itself out” isn’t panning out. 

Because treating this as just another political moment felt dangerously incomplete.

Clarity is not optional when the stakes are this high.

Defined: Terms for Our Time isn’t loud.

It’s deliberate.

It’s unapologetic.

And right now, that matters.

I made it to find a way to speak plainly, with a bit of side-eye. Not shouting, or numbing out, and definitely not pretending this all feels normal.

There’s a particular kind of frustration that comes from watching real consequences get reduced to abstract debate and falsehoods. From seeing words that once carried moral weight mocked, diluted, or deliberately misunderstood. From being told—again—that caring deeply for others, for fairness, for dignity, is somehow considered a weakness.

At some point, that disconnect becomes unbearable.

This collection came out of that pressure.

Out of the recognition that paying attention right now is exhausting, yes. But necessary.

This isn’t about being angry all the time.

It’s about refusing to numb out.

It’s about staying human in a moment that keeps asking us to disengage.

The wit is intentional.

The irreverence is intentional.

So is the clarity.

Because sometimes the most grounded response to what’s happening is to name it plainly, put it where you can see it every day, and remind yourself:

You’re not imagining things.

Words still matter.

Even when they make people uncomfortable.

Especially then.

My hopes with this collection? Solidarity. Understanding. Belonging. Some nods, a few chuckles, an eyebrow raised, a Yes! here and there.

Is there a word you would like to see included in Defined? Do you have a definition to add or a "Use in a Sentence idea? Drop in the comments, I would love to read your ideas!