As spring rolls along and plants are blooming and I do all the usual things I do in the spring as summer approaches - weeding and planting tomatoes and putting away the winter clothes to get out the shorts - I find myself falling back into a routine schedule that was disrupted this winter by an unendurable agitation and rage. This was combined with despair and hopelessness on such a mass scale that most of us became motivated to act or to try to understand those who were actually jubilant at the nation's new leader.
Many things have occurred in those five months. The plot both thickens with intrigue and with lassitude. I find I cannot sustain the rage and have become more focussed on my own life despite the continuing ridiculousness. As 45-T-Man returns from his Grand Tour of the Middle East and Europe - having proclaimed a "home run" - and settles into his routine of tweeting and denying reality as "fake news," I find I just don't care as much any more. This both a relief and quite alarming. It's a relief to just live my life - eat my pancakes - and move on. But there is still so much work that needs to be done. The reason I can relax some is that activism has now become part of my normal routine.
So here I can remind folks of several events to be aware of:
- 1) Friday, June 2 is National Gun Violence Awareness Day - Westchester County is recognizing that and I'll be down at the train station handing out leaflets and distributing orange ribbons to commuters. Wear Orange is the slogan in honor of 15 year old Hadiya Pendleton who was killed in Chicago by gun violence. In 2015 her friends decided to honor her by wearing orange, the same color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves. So #WearOrange and represent for Gun Violence Awareness. https://wearorange.org/
- 2) Jon Ossoff is running to fill Secretary of Health Tom Price's seat in Georgia. He has been leading in the polls, but it is close. His winning a democratic seat in the congress could make a big difference right now. Election is June 20th and there are lots of ways to help from writing postcards to making phone calls to donating. https://electjon.com/
This is not political but of interest as well - my friend Sabine will be premiering her film Letters from Baghdad at Lincoln Center and Angelica Film Center on Fri June 2 and Sat June 3. It's the life story of Gertrude Bell who was known as the "female Lawrence of Arabia" and had quite a big influence on the course of diplomacy in the Middle East in the early 20th century. Quite timely. The directors will be there for Q & A.
http://lettersfrombaghdadthemovie.com/
In thinking about schedules and routine, I realize complacence is too easy to fall into, but then one cannot live forever on the edge of the seat. There need to be pockets and moments of stillness when we collect ourselves and remember who we are. I am reminded of Maya Angelou's last tweet: "Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God."
Many things have occurred in those five months. The plot both thickens with intrigue and with lassitude. I find I cannot sustain the rage and have become more focussed on my own life despite the continuing ridiculousness. As 45-T-Man returns from his Grand Tour of the Middle East and Europe - having proclaimed a "home run" - and settles into his routine of tweeting and denying reality as "fake news," I find I just don't care as much any more. This both a relief and quite alarming. It's a relief to just live my life - eat my pancakes - and move on. But there is still so much work that needs to be done. The reason I can relax some is that activism has now become part of my normal routine.
So here I can remind folks of several events to be aware of:
- 1) Friday, June 2 is National Gun Violence Awareness Day - Westchester County is recognizing that and I'll be down at the train station handing out leaflets and distributing orange ribbons to commuters. Wear Orange is the slogan in honor of 15 year old Hadiya Pendleton who was killed in Chicago by gun violence. In 2015 her friends decided to honor her by wearing orange, the same color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves. So #WearOrange and represent for Gun Violence Awareness. https://wearorange.org/
- 2) Jon Ossoff is running to fill Secretary of Health Tom Price's seat in Georgia. He has been leading in the polls, but it is close. His winning a democratic seat in the congress could make a big difference right now. Election is June 20th and there are lots of ways to help from writing postcards to making phone calls to donating. https://electjon.com/
This is not political but of interest as well - my friend Sabine will be premiering her film Letters from Baghdad at Lincoln Center and Angelica Film Center on Fri June 2 and Sat June 3. It's the life story of Gertrude Bell who was known as the "female Lawrence of Arabia" and had quite a big influence on the course of diplomacy in the Middle East in the early 20th century. Quite timely. The directors will be there for Q & A.
http://lettersfrombaghdadthemovie.com/
In thinking about schedules and routine, I realize complacence is too easy to fall into, but then one cannot live forever on the edge of the seat. There need to be pockets and moments of stillness when we collect ourselves and remember who we are. I am reminded of Maya Angelou's last tweet: "Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God."
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