As I search for meaning in the continual madness of inhumanity and violence, I immediately launch into problem-solving mode.
The way through this grief and despair begins with an unrelenting belief that we can and will make life better.
This starts by turning out the vote in unprecedented numbers. We have four months and three days until the midterm elections. We must vote like our lives depend on it and convince others to do the same. The quality of our lives is on the ballot in November.
To sit out this year because of disappointment or frustration literally means sacrificing the freedoms we have taken for granted and the idea that we can be safe in America. It’s already happening. For BIPOC it’s always been this. This is the plan. They got behind Trump for the courts and will continue to erode our rights unless we take a stand.
Five Supreme Court Justices appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote are beholden to the powers who put them on the bench.
The values that led the Framers to form our country and constitution, the necessity of the separation of church and state, are being reversed. Right-winged Christian dogma, which is not the shared values of the majority of Americans, is shaping laws that determine the quality of our living and dying.
Reversing Roe erodes freedom for women and those who identify as women. Removing the rights of Native Americans’ sovereign land, guns not being regulated, the police state that comes with the loss of Miranda rights, and the removal of environmental regulations are literal and metaphoric deaths.
When Roe was destroyed Wolf and I left the city for an eighteen-acre plot of land we’ve been reforesting. We bought the land from a logger, who, if he could, would cut every tree in the forest Regulation, which is slim at best, stops him from doing so. This sacred land is littered with stumps and gaps in the forest where ancient trees once stood. It is heart-stopping to see and yet we all use wood. He sells the timber. We buy the wood. The regulations keep us forested.
On the land, I more easily see the interconnectedness of life. The Earth’s intelligence. The forest knows how to revitalize. The Alders and Maples come in first and create shade for the heat-sensitive Red Cedars and Firs. The invasive species take advantage of the decimated Earth, occupying spaces where the natives used to be. The metaphor is too apt.
There I’m not distracted by social media, the 24/7 news cycle, and the fear of what’s happening in our society. There I don’t doom scroll reliving the trauma of the daily mass shootings. There I am in rhythm with the forest. I am in a study of what’s unfolding. I grieve what’s been taken. I stress over invasive species. There I am awake to the role I play.
Wolf reminds me while I battle to remove Scotch Broom, a rapidly spreading and freakily resilient invader, that we need to tend to the invasive species within ourselves. What personal toxicity is crowding out our magnificence? What damage are we doing by not allowing the light in? Wolf is a deeper thinker than I am. More often than not, I externalize this question and look outward into our society where the invaders are omnipresent and blocking the nutrients we need to thrive.
It’s not natural to rob people of their rights. It’s not natural to bastardize the second amendment, written decades before the invention of bullets, to give guns more value than sentient beings. It’s not natural to decimate forests without forethought about how it affects the whole.
What I’ve come to realize is that this cruel, greed-based, and narcissistic rule-of-law machine believes they are enacting “God’s will.” I write these words with a knot in my stomach. That belief feels so conceited.
The extreme right-wing Christian movement has proselytized over decades a repeated and dangerous rhetoric of white supremacy, fetal rights, and the eradication of “other.” Preachers in tax-exempt churches are filling heads with beliefs that don’t make sense in our modern world and are eroding our freedoms.
The agnostic, atheist, and religiously reformed amongst us often grapple with a prescription of faith. Yet, I am convinced we can’t endure without faith. We need to attach ourselves to a deep, unwavering, and evolving belief of interconnectedness that guides us to do better. A dogma that is a fierce determination for the well-being of ourselves, each other, and our earth.
Nothing is accidental, you see that in nature. The trees, bushes, deer, bird songs, coyotes, and the rush of the river preach. There is a grand design built with reverence and awe. There is no agenda to steal or kill for the sake of power and killing. The natural world is in harmony and deep communication. It depends upon itself and each other for survival.
This is precious. Guns aren’t precious. Eliminating choice isn’t precious. We are alive during this time to participate in keeping the precious and sacred well and healthy.
It doesn’t matter how busy or tired we are. It doesn’t matter that we don’t like politics. All that matters is that we worship what we value enough to do whatever it takes to preserve our rights, our freedom of personal choice, the necessity to keep each safe, and the preservation of our sacred and one earth.
I can no longer live overwhelmed by outrage and despair. Angela Davis said best, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” I believe this moment is an invitation for all of us to drop into ourselves and ask what is it that we can do.
It is time again to pick up the phone and dial for our Democracy. If we only despair and outrage as our rights disappear, we will wish we could go back in time to do more.
This is not a fire drill. Our roof is on fire. The actions taken over the two weeks, the daily gun violence, the decades spent eroding women’s rights, and the injustices to our natural world ensure that the motherfucker burns.
Today’s Easy Activism is a god damn faith-based pressure campaign -
GUNS.
Yes, we just passed the most comprehensive gun bill in thirty years, and we need to do. No more assault weapons. Period. These are killing machines and are not what the Framers intended in the second amendment. Call your legislatures today and demand more action on guns. And support this Everytown for Gun Safety. Follow and support March for Our Lives. These young people are doing the heavy lifting, changing laws, and saving lives.
GET OUT THE VOTE!
Nothing is more important than ensuring people vote in November’s midterm elections. Every right hinges on electing progressive and democratic candidates up and down the ticket. Volunteer with Common Power to knock on doors and phone bank in States where we can pick up seats. Donate to Feel Good Action, the organization I co-founded in 2020 that continues to use social media influencers to turn out the vote. This organization is the revolution.
WOMEN’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE.
Here is a list of seven things from the Center for Reproductive Rights that you can do right now to protect Abortion.
There is so much more to do and say and I will leave it here for today. I am saddened that we are here again, connecting over pain, and yet I know in this connection, we are getting better.
In love, gratitude, and an enduring belief that we will prevail -
:: Genessa