Good morning yāall. We made it to another Friday.
How are you holding up?
The other day, a soul-friend asked me, āWhat would you do if you had access to unlimited resources?ā I said Iād buy a house, pay off my and my familyās debts, travel. My friend responded, āOk yeah, but then what? What would you really do?ā
Iāve been thinking about this ever since.
This may seem like a frivolous exercise on its surface, but when I extrapolate my imagination out that far, if I let my dreaming go wild with possibility, thinking that big actually helps me hone in on the right now. Am I already doing what I would continue to do if I was suddenly Bezoās rich (I believe that level of wealth to be unethical, but you get the picture)? One of the most prevalent conversations Iām listening into lately is that of overwhelm: that there is so much that needs our attention and fixing that we donāt know where to start. What do we throw our weight behind? Climate change? Dismantling the electoral college? Abolishing white supremacy? Reuniting children in cages at the border with their families, building bridges instead of walls, and on and on into infinity?
There is so much that needs transforming. All of it needs our attention. And, if we stay stuck in the overwhelm, we will barely scratch the surface of anything. So I want to knowāand maybe this is a bit presumptuous of me, this here Friday, a few days after the election, when our brains are all scrambled and we are exhaustedāI want to know: What would you do? What are you already doing that you would just make bigger? How are you/would you align yourself if Bill Gates level resources were suddenly at your disposal?
Let us know in the comments šš½
One thing Iām already doing that I would make so much bigger is to continue to advocate for those of us in recovery, and to eradicate the stigma associated with addiction. When the cycle of addiction heals, entire families, and thus communities, and thus the whole world heals. Everything is connected to everything else, so when we elevate one realm, all the other realms rise, too.
Today, with my fingers crossed and my heart cautiously cautiously optimistic, I am giving my imagination center stage. I am chasing these visions as my guide. I am living into the beyond.
What vision(s) are you chasing? Oh my god, Iād love to hearā¦
I love you. Keep going ā„ļø
xxoo dani
ā Links for you, my favorite creatures:
š¤ As a single, child-free someone in her mid-thirties living through a pandemic, this article: What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was At The Center Of Life? was the acknowledgment and validation I needed. One of the gifts of Pandemia is the joy of placing friendship at the center of my days and the depth and richness my people add to my life is indescribable. 10/10 would hella recommend.
š The Ghosts of the Tsunami: āTheĀ 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed thousands in Japan. Those left behind were haunted by the dead, and some were possessed by them.ā This article captivated me for many reasons. I found a morbid comfort in this bit of access into another countryās collective grief, particularly how Japanese people continue to cultivate relationships with their ancestors long after theyāve passed. Iām thinking about collective grief a lot these days, for sadly obvious reasons.
š¤ Last, and yeah, if thereās one thing you read ever, let it be this one:
āIn progressive circles, we know that the best right answer will be to say, once again, that the problem is white supremacy. And we arenāt wrong. My fear, though, is that after all the Very Correct Proclamations are laid down, that weāll go back to the same tired well as to what to do about it. Weāve spent four years being mad that millions of white Americans are comfortable with racism and white supremacy and yet our only consistent, scalable idea has been to either yell at them or ignore them. Not surprisingly, the Great American Unfriending has not resulted in liberation.
Hereās why all the yelling and the ignoring hasnāt worked, and why we canāt do it again.ā
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Couldn't figure out why I stopped getting your blog--but then I found it had a spam filter onit. Dunno how that happened.
What would I do if I had all those resources? Probably what I'd like to do even without them--find a place to lie down and just feel the air, the sun, the ground, and listen to our world. Spose when I eventually got up, I'd create outdoor learning and rehabilitation centers for people struggling with drugs. Being outside in the wilderness is humbling and can be tranformative--it's just learning how to take that with you once you re-enter society.
<3 capital H "Heart" - yes.
Couldn't figure out why I stopped getting your blog--but then I found it had a spam filter onit. Dunno how that happened.
What would I do if I had all those resources? Probably what I'd like to do even without them--find a place to lie down and just feel the air, the sun, the ground, and listen to our world. Spose when I eventually got up, I'd create outdoor learning and rehabilitation centers for people struggling with drugs. Being outside in the wilderness is humbling and can be tranformative--it's just learning how to take that with you once you re-enter society.
Missed you! So glad I'm back.
oh my, Ted, i admit I was wondering where you were!