1/21/17

OK. So here we are.
There's confusion, sadness and even despair going around and I get it. Some of us are old enough who remember what the "back" in taking the country to actually means and its not pretty. In fact, it represents all that my generation, and marginalized generations before, had railed against our whole lives. And for 8 years we were sure we would enter our dotage having had done our job by pushing the monolith of democracy every so slightly to Justice. That our efforts were amazingly becoming meaningful and productive. Alas, as the Sages remind us healing the World, Tikkun Olam, is a daily struggle and many of us look out today with a despondency I can scarcely describe.
What to do? I want you to do me a favor, try this. Seek out local artists, poets, writers, dancers, craftspeople and journey people, your neighbors and by extension your community. Find them and do what you can make them part of your everyday life. No need to look far, you'll find them. Find your tribe in other words. Not in the ether, on these false platforms which only trick the mind into believing things to be real. Go out and touch the real. Make the real. Put some art on your wall made by a face you know. Eat food from your local garden down at the local farmers market. Make a connection, in that place where art, science and culture all intersect. It's VITALLY important that we look to each other now, and realize as someone noted 8 years ago, you are the people you've been waiting for.
Cover art by Howard Rains
Here's the link to donate my project, which I'm very proud of. But be sure and donate to somebody's efforts either by simply buying what they make or hiring them to do what they do. We'll only progress if we support each other, not by tweets and posts, but by our budget choices. Resist and Peace, MR

*(I've been advised by my mental health professionals to avoid all social media and I'm following their advice. No joke and I'll bet you can relate.)