HONESTLY…I can’t breathe very well today and I can’t tell if there’s more smoke in my house, or my glasses are just really dirty, or if the light is filtered by the haze and making an optical illusion in here. All three. It’s all three.
My unrelenting headache lets me know it’s really bad, and this means it’s way worse closer to the fires. Worse for people without air filtration options. And even worse for those without homes, whether they never had one or they just lost one. There are few words that can comfort people who just lost everything to the fires. The nation is watching, and the nation is in disbelief and as it again witnesses grief with no available remedy.
In the midst of all of this, good morning and massive love to our:
First day of school families
First day of KINDERGARTEN families
And all of our friends walking through other milestones and thresholds too
Love, love, love to:
All of you surveying the destruction to see what’s left
All of you nurturing devastated hearts
All of you canceling weddings
All of you who can’t gather to mourn
All of you who are scared
All of you who landed in a healthcare career, already tapped out before this year even started
And the same for educators
And the same for infrastructure and industry workers
And the same for restaurant and food industry workers
And the same for retail workers
And the same for farmers and ranchers and migrant workers in all their disrespected, under-appreciated glory
And all of you who did your level best every day at a job you no longer have
And all of you trying to figure out what to do now
And all of us who don’t have food or water
All of you still working for equity, justice and reform in all its unpopular glory, even as things literally burn around us
All of you families and communities hashing it out, who can’t find common ground in the midst of this socio-political crisis
All of you tending irreparable ruptures in your support circles
All of you trying to salvage your hustle…your businesses…your labors of love
All of you fighting fires
All of you first responders who are crushing it and getting crushed right now
All of you working in law enforcement, in the midst of calls for reform (and more), while you’re working harder then ever and angry and confused about it all
All of you experiencing racism in most, if not all of your interactions every day
All of you being silenced, erased, or otherwise crushed by your families and communities because they refuse and reject who you are and who you love
All of you being misgendered in quarters you cannot escape
All of you isolated and feeling the effects of cognitive decline and loneliness
All of you grappling with consumption of things you don’t want to consume
All of you who are safe and stable and feeling bad about it
(Don’t feel bad! Post your clean air, joy, successes and normalcy. It gives us something positive to rest on in the midst of crisis.)
All of you grieving lost pets, the trees, wildlife and land, the loved ones lost to the virus, cancer, suicide and all other takers with a name, and those who have crossed the finish line at the end of their long walk in the body you knew. (A young friend told me after my father died, “The ones we’ve lost are at the corners of our eyes.”)
All of you responding to the needs of those affected
All of you trying to parent and protect a sense of safety for our children
All of you who are starting into or in the midst of depression and other social and emotional setbacks
All of you who feel alone
All of you stuck in the waiting place
All of you who are numb and closed down
All of our angry, sad, and anxious ones vibrating in the stress
All of you who are scurrying, to outrun until you can’t any more
All of you who are unsure
All of you weary from the weight of it all
All of you who are left with the discomfort knowing many of us are in much worse circumstances,
with fewer options and resources,
and that there are some things we can do and yet there are limitations.
All of you who understand this is incredibly unfair, unjust, and are pondering how we got here and how we can change it
Feeling so much love for you…for us. Who’d I forget? Forgive me and please add! Let’s keep ourselves in one another’s awareness and hearts, yeah?
