Resistance is a Marathon, not a Sprint

How we do sustain the fire of our passion over time?

Hello Beloved Friends,

I am again writing to you from Delhi.

Something beautiful is happening to me. With the generous unconditional love, support, and care from my family, I am falling in love with Delhi.

I will share more about this soon, but for now, enjoy photos from my recent visit to the night market!

I am wondering, how are you?

Today I want to talk about how we tend to our inner fire in service of understanding how we relate to Palestine

I think of our inner fire as the fire in our bellies. In the very little bit of Chinese Five Elements and Aruyveda medicine I have studied, both systems of medicine talk about us having fire within us that we need to keep in balance to maintain optimal health.

Photo by Gaspar Uhas on Unsplash

When I think of the fire of our bodies, I think of our physical heart, and when I think of the fire of our spirit, I think of anger, passion, and love. In the murky overlap of body and spirit, I think fire shows up when people are energetic and excited.

Of course I can’t talk about fire without talking about this precious ball of fire that warms and awakens our earth!!!!

In honor of fire and the sun, I want to share this poem by Joy Harjo from her collection, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings

This Morning I Pray for My Enemies

Joy Harjo

And whom do I call my enemy?
An enemy must be worthy of engagement.
I turn in the direction of the sun and keep walking.
It’s the heart that asks the question, not my furious mind.
The heart is the smaller cousin of the sun.
It sees and knows everything.
It hears the gnashing even as it hears the blessing.
The door to the mind should only open from the heart.
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend

I’ve shared this poem before, and I’m sharing it again because I love the part where she calls the heart a smaller cousin of the sun.

the cake I ate off this plate was truly delicious— sponge cake with a light fluffy whipped topping and heaps of chopped fruit

So how do we tend to our inner fire and enjoy it’s gifts without being consumed?

Let me start by saying, sometimes we are mant to be consumed.

Fire can allow us to clear stagnancy and is a sign of invigoration and vitality.

Fire is transformative. In minutes, fire can change the chemical composition of whatever it touches.

the fire in our bellies refers not just to our anger and passion, but also our digestive fire! We can tend to this fire with pro-biotics and bitter foods like dandelion, okra, and beet

Our fire can burn out if left untended.

For a long time, I lived in a cycle of burnout. My inner flames would reach incredible heights, and I would burn through tangible and intangible resources until I was left a mess of whimpering coals, slowly rebuilding.

I was in my mid-twenties before I caught the cycle and began asking myself, How can I tend to my fire?

How can I live a life where my fire is steady and burning each day?

What do I feed my fire?

How do I feed my fire?

I try to avoid feeding my inner fire taco bell cause nothing puts it out faster, but sometimes the fire wants what it wants.

Recently, I have been thinking about our collective fire in relation to Palestine

There is a lot that could be said here, but I don’t think I am quite knowledgable enough to say it.

Here is what I can say: From my perspective, I think our collective fire flared up around Palestine, and I am so glad it did.

What we are witnessing is unconscionable, inhumane, tragic, and violent.

I am so grateful to every other human who has stood up and said NO this is not ok, who has protested, screamed, blocked ships, boycotted, had difficult conversations.

I noticed over the past couple of weeks a shift in the energy online, although I am so glad to see actions big and small continuing.

In the past, I would feel scared and shameful in the face of energy shifting and fading in social movements. Presently, I still feel those emotions, and I also have a more nuanced perspective.

When earning my masters in Social Work I took a class on crisis, and I learned that after six weeks, a family system in crisis will find equilibrium, which often means that crisis is normalized because our minds are not able to sustain a crisis state.

I am committed to resisting the normalization of inhumane violence.

I am also committed to not draining my energy by shaming myself for the involuntary functions of my mind.

As our commitment to resistance widens and deepens, I want to offer some practices for sustaining our fire.

I want to start by talking about joy.

I have been feeling very joyful recently, and after these moments of joy, I feel guilty. As I turn towards my family and culture in Delhi, I can’t help but think of Palestine.

I take these moments of guilt as invitations for intentional breath, and then I normally get on my phone and look for updates.

It has helped me to remember, that people who are experiencing genocide don’t need me to never feel joy or to live in a constant state of performative empathy.

They need me to take action; advocate for them, support them, uplift their stories, and provide genuine presence and support.

My dysregulation helps no one, but my grounded presence has the possibility to provide love and care to people more directly impacted.

I am saying this, and if you strongly disagree, feel free to let me know! I am really open to feedback.

Practice One: Take Action

Have you heard of habit stacking? I learned about it in Atomic Habits by James Clear.

This book has really useful, applicable information about how to create habits successfully.

Clear talks about how when establishing a habit it is essential to determine the details of the habit: when you are going to do it, how you are going to do it, for how long etc.

For example an unclear and difficult to execute habit: improve my oral health.

A habit that we can put into action: I will brush my teeth for two minutes in the bathroom after I wake up.

Habit stacking is when you create a chain of actions or habits.

for example: I will brush my teeth when I wake up, then I will wash my face, then I will go for a walk.

My encouragement to you is to find a specific time of day in which you are making your voice heard to your local and national politicians.

This is what I think is important, but maybe there is another, more meaningful action for you to take. I encourage you to figure out what that is and to build it into your life.

Practice Two: Build Community

No one is going to solve this alone, by themselves, overnight.

We need each other, and we are more powerful together.

If you haven’t heard of cointel pro I encourage you to learn. There is no shortcut to building resilient, value-aligned relationships with each other. Building relationship requires skill and care and intention.

Relationships take effort, and are often less intuitive than we expect.

Sometimes when relationships go differently than how we anticipate, we can feel angry and betrayed. I have witnessed so many movements fall apart due to a deterioration of relationships.

Ultimately, there is no magic pill. Relationships take intention and practice, an embodied commitment to tending to each other with love.

The gifts of relationships are numerous, including that they bring an aspect of joy and abundance to struggle.

In a past newsletter, I wrote about making dinner for friends who are grieving and directly impacted by the violence. I am again making this suggestion!

Practice Three: Go Slow to Go Fast

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, sometimes you have to go fast to go slow and sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.

Don’t underestimate slowness. Sometimes I think we lean into urgency because we are scared of stillness and slowness, but both are crucial.

This is a marathon, not a sprint, after all.

THANK U FOR READING

Love you all deeply. If you are looking for some ways to fuel your fire, I reccommend this incredible playlist/ sound salad Free Free Palestine created by Yoni Yacht Club in collaboration with Banah el Ghadbanah & Miliaku Nwabueze

If you loved this newsletter or it resonated with you, please consider sharing with a homie.

shelves and shelves of incense at Khadi House in Delhi