Resting during the Apocolypse
maybe one of the hardest things I've ever done???
Hello Beloved Friends
I know some people do better with video then text, so I’m going to start including them in my newsletters!
Happy Black History month!!
If you are in the ATL area… come celebrate with us in person! If you are watching from afar, please consider celebrating by donating to my brilliant, beautiful, vibrant homie who is experiencing harassment for being black, queer, and joyful.
A huge thank you to the brilliant Dio Obidiah for designing these flyers and generally putting their whole present self in helping me shower my homie with love and mutual aid, and of course thank you to everyone volunteering and who has bought tickets!!
It’s going to be a rager, and you can get your ticket here
Also we are asking people to test, and mask, and there will be air purifiers in the space as well as outdoor space!!
I will be sharing my story with the Lumos Community on Thursday (tomorrow!)
I think I will be talking about how I’m thriving as an intersexy genderfluid babe despite the best attempts of the fascist state.
I have been following and receiving the fruits of Nkem Ndefo’s work for many years!
The Resilience Toolkit is a powerful and life-changing set of somatic tools that support nervous system regulation in a way that is pivotal for resisting fascism!
You can view my talk live, or watch the recording in the Lumo Transforms Community, using this link
The membership is extremely affordable ($3-$6/monthly) , and you get the first month free!
I want to gather my readers in one big zoom room
is that crazy? Is that too 2020? Whatever, the thing giving me life these days is bringing people together
Last wednesday I abandoned my to do list (which included publishing this newsletter) and instead cooked all my friends an elaborate dinner. It was loosely in honor of the lunar new year, but the menu was very Missippi Masala.
I had greens, curry chicken, roasted potatoes, garbanzo beans in a spiced tomato sauce, and red lobster chedder bay biscuits.
I didn’t take any photos at the dinner, but it was an extremely nourishing and regulating meal. After the dinner a friend told me
I now realize that having dinner with loved ones is the first step in responding to crisis
I thought this was extremely insightful and true!
Would you meet with me on zoom?
If so, when is the best time for you?
I have a few other ideas in the fire!
I’m thinking that I would like to start an advice coloumn! And right now me and everyone I know are submitting lots of ideas to the incredible TJFP
Working with others means that things take a little longer, but it’s worth it! I’m excited for the spaces that me and other friends are carefully birthing; sacred containers for expression, grief and community building
I wrote the below text 2 or 3 weeks ago, before the tik tok ban and its rapid return. It’s still relevant and I don’t quite have the energy to rewrite it!
Obviously Amazon sucks, but I admire their capacity. This whole political moment has me reflecting on how I can organize, build, and ultimately expand my capacity to better meet the moment.
I also want to share this gofundme for a loved one in my network. I know many people impacted by the fires, but I have adopted this gofundme because it is my homie’s auntie and cousin, and this fundraiser is still only at 10% funded and they have raised $10,000 so far.
Please consider contributing and sharing!
we all know it’s still winter, my body knows most of all. *
*I wrote this before the lunar new year last week! It is basically spring now, especially with the heat wave hitting the southern US right meow!
The real new year happens in spring, with the flowers and when the days are longer
Right now my body is still asleep, and I feel so unmotivated to work. I feel extremely empathetic to all people surviving war, genocide, and displacement this winter.
My heart is also with all the people who have been displaced from their homes due to climate crisis, from Pakistan to Asheville.
I am praying for all, especially for my beloved friends in LA.
What must it be like to long for a home that has been destroyed? To spend these months of terrible cold in a tent under constant fear of war and continued displacement?
What if we lived in a world where there was an abundance of resources ready for those who needed it? A world with crisis triage centers that could support anyone who walked through its doors with immediate food, shelter, clothing, or medical care?
When I reflect on this, I often feel my inner fire flare up, because we actually have all the resources and technology to create this reality.
There is enough food, water, and shelter for everyone to have what they need.
It is human fear and greed, the desire to hoard and over consume that has led to so many of us having not enough.
In conditions of manufactured scaracity, often people turn on each other, fighting over crumbs.
I think this is why the stories of care, generosity, and mutual aid emerging from Los Angeles right now are so uplifting.
My phone call check ins with friends are filled with stories of other friends
of group chats created to co watch evacuation warnings,
aquantances opening up their home, f
friends bringing friends herbs and air purifiers,
offerings of free acupuncture and healing.
Los Angeles is a brutal city, it takes an enormous amount of resources, mental and physical, to survive.
My time living there taught me the value of my time and energy, and the many years I spent there helped me build strategies to maximize resources.
These lessons came at the expense of my relationships to others.
Los Angeles, in comparision to my young adulthood in the codependent culture of South Carolina, is an extremely independent city, and over time I adjusted my expectations for others.
I stopped asking for favors that other people could never say yes to, but in this moment I see the culture changing and am hearing so many stories of people offering up their precious time for care and favors.
To hear stories of people reaching out to each other in this time, and to know that it is happening in LA, a place where resource is extra precious, is especially inspiring.
THANK U FOR READING!! LOVE U TALK SOON
note; the caption on the photo is outdated! The new moon was last week