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| ISSUE NO. 721 |
| ALLOW US TO CHECK IN . . . How are you? Really, we want to know. Tell us how the complexities of this world are settling in your brains and bodies today. Before you reflexively respond, 'Good, how are you?', just pause. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in. Let a deep breath out. Before you say, 'I am not okay, but things could always be worse . . .' just let yourself feel whatever it is that you are feeling without comparing it to the hurt elsewhere in the world. Allow yourself to acknowledge whatever grief, hurt, fear, frustration, anger, or whatever other emotions surface. Before you rush to all of the reasons that you are grateful, let the feelings of hardship move through you at their natural speed without pushing them away. We know the world needs each and every one of us. We feel the ever-increasing call to action. And we recognize that the only way through is together. This is the first step. Before analysis. Before action. The first step is for us to pause. To breathe. To let ourselves feel the enormity of all that is lost and all that is at stake. Too often we rush past this step, fearful that feeling the feelings will consume us. Break us. Keep us in a pit of despair. Sometimes rushing past it feels like a matter of urgency, a response to the urgency of true disaster in the outside world. But if your safety is not at stake right now, consider that your energy will be needed over the longterm. From the tail of the disasters that surround us, there will be a long line of grief, recovery, repair, and necessary healing. Don't fall into the traps that risk perpetrating ever-more-destructive systems and / or acting in ways that burn everyone out. Pausing to check in is a critical step. It fortifies us. It connects us. It lays the foundation for the webs of support that we need to continue to build the world we want to live in.
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tidbits...resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we're reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . . Do One Small Thing . . . each week we highlight one small contribution to the type of world we want to live in: a la Toi Marie, reach out to one person and tell them that you love them, you need them, and that they make your world a better place. Let us know how it goes. |
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