8/30/2020 Focus on the meaning
Dearest ones: As August wraps up, I hope you are able to revel in the remnants of summer and look forward to the transition to autumn, taking some time to savor this beautiful time of year.
Meanwhile in the world, the self-congratulatory law-breaking of the RNC convention this past week included vivid references to the imagery of totalitarians while virtually ignoring the loss of life, health, and economic well-being in the pandemic. The violence and loss of life in Kenosha and Portland weigh heavily in our hearts. The inadequate response to natural disasters in Iowa and the Gulf Coast is tragic. The continued attempts to undermine confidence in our voting processes, and the cancelling of in-person briefings on intelligence related to foreign attacks on our election integrity raises serious alarms. All these events reinforce our commitment to doing the work that needs to be done.
That work includes supporting a massive voter turnout in November. The attempts to make us too scared, too confused, or too cynical to vote must be resisted. Voting by mail is safe and secure. Dropping ballots in designated, secure ballot boxes or at your local election office can help ensure timeliness. If you aren't sure how you will vote, logistically, get it figured out now. If your loved ones need assistance in determining the logistics of their ballots, reach out. (Here's a great resource: https://www.vote411.org)
It also includes supporting one another in finding our path forward. This is exhausting and exhilarating, dispiriting and inspiring, by turns. Some of us will hit the streets, others will write letters, call representatives, make donations; many will invest in the transformative work of caring for our fellow humans and our planet. We can lean on one another, take rests, return, re-examine, revitalize.
Amid the swirl of fear-mongering, there is an intention to overwhelm us and prompt us to turn away, shrug our shoulders, walk away. We resist that option by looking more deeply. We can focus, laser-like, on the meaning available to us in this moment of seeming chaos: to embrace our own humanity and that of others, to hold dearly our understanding that we are all one family, reliant on one planet to nurture us, and dependent on our love for one another to survive. If we act out of that understanding, we will act rightly.
Be safe, be well, and know that I am always grateful for your company in this work.
Liz