Let's go

The sky is grey, the temperature sits at 55 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Wednesday.

Now is not the time to sit around and wonder about what is happening. It's pretty clear and we need to be thankful when we are among friends who don't require us to explain about the apparent collapse. It feels like we are sitting in a house that is being battered by the elements and we are still hanging on to hopes that the structure will survive the storm. It might be time to suit up for the next move.

We are falling through the hell hole that confirms what many have known for the last several years. All systems are breaking down, including government leadership, the courts, the academy where scholars took up the work of finding cures for cancer, explaining how our planet is affected by human activity, developing vaccines, building intellectual capital for the future, and so much more.

It seems many of us are simply going along with the flow and in the process, hitting rocks and downed tree limbs. It hurts and it causes a certain amount of confusion about what can be done, not just to save ourselves but to help save our collective capacity to support one another through this stormy time.

Incompetence and delight in creating misery seem to be the main qualities of those who have their hands on the levers of power. There is a dilemma - should we just let the incompetence continue to show itself (as in the gaffe with the Signal texts that revealed a war strategy this week in the bombing of Yemen) so things really break; or, should we be doing all that we can to stop what appears to be a facist regime from rising and destroying everything?

The question is, for those who feel drawn to doing things to stop the breakdown, what can an individual do? These are some of the ideas that friends shared last night in a book club (we were supposed to talk about Coates and his book The Message, but veered a bit):

• Boycott buying from - Target, Walmart, Amazon (moderate impact reported)
• Attend rallies in support of peace, worker rights, environmental protection
• Contribute to orgs that are focusing on the obvious global challenge to all of humanity: climate and extinction of species (e.g., Center for Biological Diversity)
• Make time for your well-being (run, swim, walk, stargaze, make tea and sit)
• Connect with people you love and like and remember how it feels to share time together, in person and not just on devices and in electro-land
• Accept invitations to celebrate love, birhs, lives that have transitioned
• Make sure to do the laundry and make folding clean laundry a meditation
• Listen to great music and play music if you have that talent
• Read poetry out loud
• Create opportunities to gather together with friends and acquaintances who want to learn something together, like how to respond when ICE shows up, how to host healing space, and what to do if you are stopped or questioned while walking your dog
• Anything else you can think of to express your own sense of well-being and care for something beyond yourself.

Bottom line: Let's go!