In October, before the election, I wrote about hope, imagination, and possibility. Read that post again. I’ve felt a little leery of hope lately. Some of my friends and colleagues have been sleeping poorly. I’ve struggled more with maintaining my sense of optimism while keeping up with and responding to a daily catalog of repressive […]
Resistance and humane planning
In a way, I’ve felt besieged for a few years now, not in the intense ways others in major cities have. But still, in the way that one who pays attention can’t help but notice creeping crawling unease, I’ve felt besieged. I’ve joked with others who grew up fundamentalist about the opening of Revelation’s seals, but […]
Risking injury for justice
This evening’s reports are that 3.6-4.3 million people or more gathered in major cities across the United States and thousands more gathered worldwide, all in solidarity with the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. The Women’s March movement has had some major hiccups since its birth in the pro-Clinton secret Facebook group Pantsuit Nation. I’ve shared […]
Picking up the mantle
The best way to honor a mentor is to practice what they taught you. It’s the application of the message that validates their work, not the affirmation or lionization they might attract. Their contribution to us all lies in what they taught and worked for during their lives, not in how we reinterpret them after […]
Holding trauma at bay—for now
As I’ve scanned the headlines over the last few weeks, it’s felt like many of us have been holding a canopy just above our heads for a while now. A steady rain of trauma drips and trickles off the edge of the canopy. And there’s a wind blowing just enough rain under the edge to […]
Avoiding destiny, and making it
Jean de La Fontaine was a 17th Century verse- and fable-writer who spun ancient Greek tales into the rhythms of modern French poetry. One of the verses he’s most famous for describes the interactions between belief, avoidance, and inevitability: On rencontre sa destinée Souvent par des chemins qu’on prend pour l’éviter. We meet our destiny […]