"strong people do"

Yesterday afternoon the snow squalls came racing across the valley and the freezing temperatures have returned. We are in the grip of grey skies and yellow/brown grass and a bit of gloom.  Both the weather and the news feel much like the fog of Harry Potter's dementors...the iciness that comes as the soul is sucked out of the dementors' prey.

Jottings in my planner--things that are resonating with me these days...

"mass psychosis" (Joanna Macy, via for the wild, here)

"the politics of fear" (AFSC, here)

Inertia and defeat...I smell them.  I can feel them nipping at my heels. Like I did a bit ago. I try to stay ahead of them...

In upper case letters, I am jotting RESIST AND PERSIST. Because it's the only way forward.

So I also jot...

"action and transformations" (TED Talk by Kimberle Crenshaw, here).

"we exist, we resist, we rise" (the water protectors, here)

And last night, we braved the cold, wind and snow and drove to Burlington with friends to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo, an all-male South African a cappella singing group. Oh...the sold out show was just what the audience needed...a venue filled with joy and hope and resistance.

"Tough times never last forever, strong people do..." Listen here.

Strong people do.

Let's keep trying, friends.

xo