Make them rue the day!

Minnesota’s August primary election starts early voting today. In response to recent disheartening news out of Washington, D.C., it is both helpful and necessary to respond with something more than a snarky media posting. I fear too many of US are reaching a “why bother?” mode. Here are some suggestions:

Read Dirt Road Revival, An account of unlikely wins by a young Democrat in rural Maine could serve as blueprint for progressive candidates setting their sights on rural America.

It is a how-to manual for those on the left who want to win in rural America. “An unwavering commitment to stay connected to the working class and rural people is a must in order to achieve long-term success,” they write. That includes rural voters who may have voted for Trump, a group for whom too often on the left “people’s tremendous empathy stops cold…”

Are you ready to vote?

Support individual candidates more than a political party. I once considered myself a Democrat. I even almost forgave the party for the 1968 police riot at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. [Yes, I’m that old.] I’m not sure if I’ve moved further left, the Democratic party has moved right, or some of each, but I can no longer find a sufficiently comfortable alignment with the party to blindly support it. I’m more in alignment with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez than with more mainstream Dems. In fact here’s an excerpt from her message in light of the overturn of what had been established as women’s health rights.

A lot of people, especially on days like today’s SCOTUS ruling, ask me about hope. I shared some thoughts on Instagram last night during a Q&A, when someone asked me, “Are we screwed?”:

My honest view is that things are likely going to get harder before they get better, and we will need to stick together. 

What is important in moments like these is not to think in binaries. Good/bad, screwed/not screwed. There is no doubt that things are bad. Some things, really bad. And they may likely get worse. 

But that does not preclude the fact that slowly but surely, some good can be growing as other things fall apart. This is not some syrupy sweet silver lining case for optimism. Rather, it is really about a choice all of us will have to make in life, either consciously or unconsciously: will I be a person who is safe and creates good for others? 

Will I be a person who stands up? Will I be a person who primarily minds my business and serves myself or try to be part of something bigger? Or will I just be a passive, “neutral” observer of it all? 

What I sometimes tell my staff is that the world we are fighting for is already here. It exists in small spaces, places, and communities. We don’t have to deal with the insurmountable burden of coming up with novel solutions to the world’s problems....

Her message is consistent with what I’m observing in the world, a world that has grown small enough that there are few, if any, places to hide. Her message also echoes one of my favorite observations from a writer whose science fiction I have read and enjoyed:

“The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed.

The Economist, December 4, 2003”

― William Gibson

Have you observed the growing resilience of Native Americans in the life of North America. I have, and it pleases me no end. They have been persecuted and driven from their native lands for hundreds of years. Never-the-less, they are still here and contributing. That creates, it seems to me, a model for those of us feeling overwhelmed by recent and current events. Stay, maintain a life-supporting, equitable culture. Resist. Be ready when opportunities present themselves. Don’t give up or in.

But then, in a democracy, the choice of how to respond and how to live is yours, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be.

For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet 

Joy Harjo - 1951-

Put down that bag of potato chips, that white bread, that bottle of pop.

Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control.

Open the door, then close it behind you.

Take a breath offered by friendly winds. They travel the earth gathering essences of plants to clean.

Give it back with gratitude.

If you sing it will give your spirit lift to fly to the stars’ ears and back.

Acknowledge this earth who has cared for you since you were a dream planting itself precisely within your parents’ desire.

Let your moccasin feet take you to the encampment of the guardians who have known you before time, who will be there after time. They sit before the fire that has been there without time.

Let the earth stabilize your postcolonial insecure jitters.

Be respectful of the small insects, birds and animal people who accompany you.
Ask their forgiveness for the harm we humans have brought down upon them.

Don’t worry.
The heart knows the way though there may be high-rises, interstates, checkpoints, armed soldiers, massacres, wars, and those who will despise you because they despise themselves.

The journey might take you a few hours, a day, a year, a few years, a hundred, a thousand or even more.

Watch your mind. Without training it might run away and leave your heart for the immense human feast set by the thieves of time.

Do not hold regrets.

When you find your way to the circle, to the fire kept burning by the keepers of your soul, you will be welcomed.

You must clean yourself with cedar, sage, or other healing plant.

Cut the ties you have to failure and shame.

Let go the pain you are holding in your mind, your shoulders, your heart, all the way to your feet. Let go the pain of your ancestors to make way for those who are heading in our direction.

Ask for forgiveness.

Call upon the help of those who love you. These helpers take many forms: animal, element, bird, angel, saint, stone, or ancestor.

Call your spirit back. It may be caught in corners and creases of shame, judgment, and human abuse.

You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return.

Speak to it as you would to a beloved child.

Welcome your spirit back from its wandering. It may return in pieces, in tatters. Gather them together. They will be happy to be found after being lost for so long.

Your spirit will need to sleep awhile after it is bathed and given clean clothes.

Now you can have a party. Invite everyone you know who loves and supports you. Keep room for those who have no place else to go.

Make a giveaway, and remember, keep the speeches short.

Then, you must do this: help the next person find their way through the dark. 

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Please be kind to each other while you can.