Summer Solstice Vibing

Happy Summer Solstice!!!

It’s the longest day of the year and it’s cloudy in Seattle but at least it’s not raining (for once) so I’m sitting outside in my backyard (with Jude the golden retriever) writing this out and hoping that I actually end up sending it out because I’ve been awful about writing lengthy things of late. But, I will try here:

The thing about erosion of any kind is that it’s hard to assess as it’s occurring and it’s only really visible once the change is impossible to reverse. By this I am referring to the erosion of sedimentary rock as well as political change as well as the erosion of the human psyche. So much has changed since I last sat down and wrote anything down of considerable length in the world and I’d be navel gazing at best if not actively irresponsible and harmfully self-centered if I solely focused on myself. I am not the authority on police brutality and anti-black racism but I know what I do and perhaps more importantly, I would like to think of myself as a conveyor of resources and information.

If I had to define myself ideologically, I would say I’m left-ish, decidedly left of center but highly disinclined to defend the USSR (my former piano teacher would emerge from wherever she is, in this world or the next because I’m unsure if she is even still alive, and slap me upside the head) or unequivocally call myself a socialist. But generally speaking, I think that irrevocable labels do a lot more harm than good socially speaking and believe in a certain amount of mutability in our rationales. In certain ways, I’m far more radical in theory than I am practically and I think we need ideologically radical people in order to put pressure on reluctant policy makers but that’s never been my niche. For one thing, I’ve never really prided myself on my grasp of theory of any kind; I did not enjoy or excel in the few philosophy courses I took in college, thought experiments were never my forte, and I was always too focused on actionable methods to thrive in the realm of conjecture.

I’ve read my Angela Davis, I’ve read my Mariame Kaba, and I’ve seen the hot takes of everybody and their mother on Twitter.com, some of which I entirely agree with, some of which I regard as downright harmful in addition to being abject mispreresentations of the reality we live in. But, for the average non-black person, I think the primary mode of activism at this time is visible allyship, donating to bail funds for instance as well as smaller community organizations and mutual aid funds, many of which are listed on this linked document. Moreover, as a friend and I were saying, it is essential that we address the inherent bigotry of our own small communities and the circles we exist in as well as utilize our talents for the greater good so to speak. For instance, I enjoy yoga a great deal but I am also extremely critical of the ways the practice of yoga manifests in our world so I have attempted to boost the voices of black yogis and those aligned with them who are invested in decolonizing the art and making it accessible to more than just the privileged few. Also, I have taken it upon myself to write strongly worded emails to various organizations (such as the Seattle City Council) and I’d like to think I made some small difference in doing so.

On the whole though, I have a lot of hope for our world as well as for my own life, perhaps more than I probably ought to. I believe the world is changing for the better, that large groups of people can enact societal progress, that we can band together against the forces of evil….. or something like that anyway. It really makes me genuinely hopeful and gratified to see the “Karens” of the world aka suburban white women of a certain age taking up arms (or rather, neatly decorated posters and cases of water and granola bars) against institutions, which as they are learning, do not serve them, no matter what the propaganda might say. Does that make me immature? Or naive? I don’t believe so. If anything, I think it makes me more of an adult than I ever was at 16 when I called myself “logical” but actually in retrospect, was just embarrassingly nihilistic.

In any case, do your part societally speaking, care about others, care about yourself. Survive not only for yourself but for your ancestors and your descendents and of course, your golden retrievers.

Thank you for reading, and all my love and gratitude always.