How can our hearts endure? The rage, grief, fear… it sits on our shoulders in layers. The pandemic, Black lives, hurricanes and fires, our climate in full collapse. How can we hold all of this and still stand? We fear for our health, our families & communities. We fear for our immediate future AND our long-term future. We are witnessing so many endings. Every day we lose things big and small; from our favorite local restaurant to mass extinction across the globe… This is the end of empire, the end of our world and earth as we know it. So, if you’re not feeling super normal these days - that seems only reasonable! If you are feeling deep sadness, rage, fear… on a regular basis, that has to be right too. How can we not be overwhelmed by all this?
And for our Black citizens, throw on top the fear of being killed, all day every day, by a government agent. As James Baldwin said ‘To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.’ But can we amend this to include ANY person of relative consciousness. I am a white woman and I am in a constant state of grief. And of course, I, and all of White America, cannot begin to understand the depth of this trauma for our Black and brown citizens. They are under siege in their own country and we are witness to this unspeakable evils.
I believe our current system is crumbling (is this a matter of opinion? or is it obvious to you too?) Republican or Democrat, our system is no longer working for the future that is coming for us fast & furiously. So, what do we do with all this grief? How do we not become paralyzed by mourning? Where do we begin to build something new for our very uncertain future?
I have only a few suggestions to begin with:
First, when the grief is too much to bear, go to the plant kingdom for help. As Wendell Berry said ‘When despair for the world grows in me… come into the peace of wild things’ and for a time rest. The Nap Minister orders us to lay down, she explains that ‘rest provides the space to heal, imagine and invent’ while it ‘pushes back against Capitalism and White supremacy’. We have to disrupt a culture of scarcity, exhaustion and fear. So first, we rest.
Second, create space for silence, regularly, and often. Listen to your body. We are ancient creatures and our DNA holds information for us that is far older than this capitalist system. We have lived & survived before all this grind and greed. Our bodies know how. You are powerful and the way forward on earth is within us.
Start to follow the joy you see in the world. Pay close attention to the people, communities’ and activities that quicken your spirit. Talk to a tree. Talk to a baby. Dance. Raise your frequency and bring those you can with you.
And then…when you are good and rested, and grounded… then we will start to build!!
Are you ready?? Anyone with me…?