"Tell me about despair"
Grieve, gather strength, and lean into what matters most
Like many left-leaning Americans, I’m struggling today. My friend’s text groups have sent poems and sayings and videos and more, as we try to navigate what the future will hold. We must grieve that America has put its faith in a person who does not respect or value so many of us - those of us with uteruses, melanin, etc.
No matter who won the race, I would fear the bioethical issues ahead. But the fears now for the health of this country have become more specific, knowing who is in power and seeing the profound red-shift in the country’s voting.
Mary Oliver says to us, “Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on.”
I will do my best to follow Mary Oliver’s advice…
While voting is over, I continue to reflect on NDN Collective’s video on how to vote like a radical. This video, more than any other, captures my feelings on political power and working within imperfect systems.
After the election of GW Bush, Toni Morrison wrote “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear” in The Nation. The quote below is from the essay. Perhaps not today, but someday soon when you are ready, I hope you’ll allow yourself the time to read it.
I hope you, too, will reach for the artist within you to promote positive change in this world. Each of us is a creator in our own way. Make art, make music, make clothes, make a cake, make a map, make a meal, make love, make joy, make tears.
Make justice.
Make safety.
Make something. Anything.
You are here and you are worthy of love and protection and justice and joy.