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| The Reflecting Pool is Murky |
Many of
us have been feeling “discombobulated“ since the election, to borrow our poet
friend’s description of herself. When
the March groundswell began circulating on social media, we bought a Cheapoair
ticket to DC, the way you might gravitate to a chocolate bar in the checkout line at
the grocery store. It was on purpose and it was impulse, both.
Our trip
prelude involved the usual internal conflicts over how to balance household
duties with career aspirations, and soul work. What all it takes for mother
to leave the premises. Add a phone conversation
with our 85 year old mother who exclaimed,
“I can’t think of anything more ghastly than hanging out with a million
women”.
We've
realized that we had been taking many aspects of our democracy largely for
granted: Free speech, for example.
On our way
to DC, we witnessed loose-knit groupings of people also being pulled toward the
fulcrum of our nation’s capital for this day. Many wearing variations of (pussy) hats,
family and/or friends united by balls of yarn and the rhythm of stitches
embedded with love, creativity, anger?, dismay?, the need to do something! or face further “discombobulation” or fading of spirit.
During
the five-hour flight above the clouds, conversations and laughter erupted in
songlines, percolating with stories, information, a hive that hummed with life force. There
were infants and mothers, there were multi-generational clans, there were couples
with Rosie the riveter T-shirts, and four people sporting “Stop beagle testing”. Then there was NOW YOU DONE PISSED OFF GRANNY!
And there were father-son golf duets wearing sleep masks.
We wanted to take the pulse of our nation, and also to wonder - how we can undergo healing while simultaneously being under assault?
After the truly indelible and hopeful experience that many of us shared (in contrast to the extremely discordant and surreal previous day) we sought to bundle up some of that energy and put it into a word synopsis. However, we quickly became overly overwhelmed while processing our thoughts in conjunction with the onslaught of new news. Swearing to swear off news, but, well, wanting to be well-informed. Also, hoping to power forward with the necessary wits and resolve to resist this attack on the values that we value most.
This mentally ill, orange–tinted zombie of the puppetocracy needs to face our resistance and persistence every single day.
As Gloria Steinem said, "Sometimes it is necessary to put our bodies where our policies are, and where our hearts are ....."
