Beloved friends, it's been a doozy of a week in the world. If you want to lean with me into the tough things, that's in the Resistance section, below. To begin with, though, some sustenance and inspiration. If you want to share a thing or a few in return, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
1. The astonishingly mossy Big Leaf Maple, above, that James and I pass on our most-days walk out to the mailbox on the county road. This is one of my favorite trees in the forest where we live. Winter is unusually warm and wet so far in Washington and I'm grateful to James for capturing in this photograph the glorious verdance I've been raving about. Hm; apparently verdance isn't a word, though verdant is, so I'm going to offer you this neologism as well. Thanks to James.
2. Driving with the top down. Our family policy is: unless it's raining hard, we drop the top. The aerodynamics of our modern-ish convertible (a 2015 Mazda Miata) are such that mist and light rain just swoop right over the car. It's incredible to drive through the forest with the top down, singing, in any kind of weather.
3. Hot massage baths. When I resumed teaching yoga after the holidays I was sore; I'd gotten a little deconditioned during lounging-about season. To ease the soreness and prepare to return to my mat each day, I began slipping into a hot bath with my massage tools upon waking. I've been giving myself a few minutes of all-over muscle scraping every morning for a couple of weeks now. It makes my tissues sing and hum and gives me some loving, meditative time with myself.
- This orchid, which came from a grocery store and just keeps blooming. Their air roots are so glorious right now! Both the roots and the many buds here are growing visibly every day. I think we're still weeks from blossom. The anticipation of that tickles my heart.
- Cosmic grounding. In preparation for my winter Workshop for Living, which begins this Saturday, I've been sending the tendrils of my consciousness out into the vast body of the cosmos and oh, what comfort I find there. Knowing that I belong to life itself makes everything else feel much more manageable. When I ground into my body, then the earth, then the wider cosmos I feel rooted and brave; in the cosmic connection I find unfathomably large existence, mystery, awe, wonder, and glory. It makes the small people doing terrible things seem small indeed, and gives me strength. If you'd like to consider joining, I'd be so happy to share these winter explorations with you! Guided meditation, personal counsel, and warm community. We connect and we grow together.
- Friendship. I was speaking to a cherished friend for the first time in ages and she asked, "How is your personal sphere?" I appreciated the careful focus of her question. We had new dinner guests twice last weekend. When I'm texting with someone in realtime lately, I often check to see if they want to hop on a voice call, and it feels deliciously intimate to chat with a friend while I iron the handkerchiefs for the temple, chop carrots for dinner, or gather up storm-torn branches and pinecones from the driveway.
- Gin. Not the alcohol, the card game! My husband's parents have a 20-year-long game going and he played a lot as a child. He taught me at my birthday weekend last month and we've been playing a few hands most days.
- Listening to music on vinyl. Damien Jurado's The Horizon Just Laughed. Roberta Flack's Quiet Fire. Bonnie Prince Billy's I See a Darkness. Keith Jarrett's Bremen/Lausanne. Wet Leg's eponymous debut album. Kevin Morby's This is a Photograph.
- Roasted delicata squash. Preheat the oven to 425. Scrub your lovely little squash with a brush under running water. Slice the ends off. Stand it on one end and slice it in half. Use a spoon to scoop the seeds out. Slice it up. Toss the little orange smile shapes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-45 minutes depending on how thick your slices are. The seeds can be roasted with oil, salt, and pepper, or all sorts of spices and eaten whole, no peeling needed. 325 for 20-35 minutes.
- You. Colby and Prabha, who subscribed this week. My mother-in-love, who bought the little Zen Page-a-Day calendar she gifted me 15-20 years ago after reading last week when I mentioned buying it every year since. Jessica, who reached out with words that resonated for her with mine last week. Jordan, who took me up on my offer to mail anyone the little card we use in my temple for folks learning our closing prayer. I'll send one to you if you like! Just send me your address. If you want me to keep it for possible future mailing, let me know; otherwise I'll discard it. I respect your privacy and your time.
Resources
Cream Cheese and Dementia
Last week on social media, my friend Judith described a practice she shares with her son. "Every day, Leo and I scour the papers in hopes of finding even one piece of good news. For today, we give you this." It was the results of a 25-year Swedish study of nearly 28,000 people published in Neurology which found that people "who consumed 50 grams per day or more of high-fat cheese daily – roughly a third of a cup – had a lower overall risk of dementia, vascular dementia, a form of cognitive decline caused by impaired blood flow to the brain... People who averaged at least 20 grams of high-fat cream – about one and a half tablespoons – also showed a lower dementia risk, the study indicated." Low fat cheese, cream and butter didn't do this; neither did milk. After writing that sentence I paused to put cream on our grocery list. Thanks to Judith and Leo
Grace and Compassion
Last week I shared that I'd written a Facebook post about supporting people in leaving MAGA after a friend told me that posts about this were trending on TikTok after Renee Good's murder. I'm boggled to say that over 23,000 people have read those words now. I committed to responding to everyone who commented on my original post, a wonderful exercise in bringing the values and language I share in my spiritual teaching to political conversation. Many people commented warmly to me on the way I responded to people who didn't agree with me. In doing that, I was leaning heavily upon what I have learned watching Alok Vaid-Menon and Mercury Stardust, the Trans Handy Ma'am, who are both trans, respond with consistent grace and compassion to people who spoke hatefully on their Instagram accounts. Alok is a writer and performance artist. Mercury is a home repair educator, inspirational speaker, and writer. Both of these fine humans are activists. I am grateful for what they have taught me and might teach you.
The Best Medicine
Mo Amer is a Palestinian-American comedian and actor. You can check him out doing a few minutes of standup here. If you have Netflix, his standup special is The Vagabond and his show Mo is in its second season. He's heartfelt, hysterical, willing to say hard things about race, immigration, and life. Thanks to Stella If you've got a suggestion for comedy that calls us toward social justice, I am all ears!
Following the Longing
Last week my opening essay was about following our longing toward that which we desire more of in our lives. Jessica kindly shared these words of Ram Das's, which resonated with that for her. I adore Ram Das. I do not share his belief in reincarnation. I'm not opposed to it; I am simply agnostic about the nature of existence; adamantly, vigorously, agnostic: I practice wondering, finding the edges of what I know, dismantling my certainties. This means I feel a little more interest in coming to practice now than Ram Das does – I can't assume we've got 10,000 lifetimes. Where we absolutely agree is in following your longing toward that which calls to you, that wish you wish to have in your life.
A Breath of Fresh Air
Things that poets and birders have in common
Noticing, as a daily practice.
Carrying a notebook (often tattered).
A penchant for dawn and dusk,
when birds and letters come alive.
Nature as a remedy.
Weird hats.
A particular interest in rarities.
A reverence for flight, both literal
and figurative. Regularly reaching
a hand out to beauty, aware
that it cannot be held
Alex Dawson
Resistance: Love in Action
It was fascinating to engage in a conversation about supporting folks leaving MAGA on a wide scale. Many people shared that they were not up for the task of supporting their family members or friends in this journey. Leaving MAGA will: they are an organization of people who have done so which aims to support people who are considering or engaged in that process.
Rebecca Solnit, writer and activist, has been a profound source of inspiration to me and to many in this time. She's got a new book coming out in March that's being described as a sequel to her magnificent Hope in the Dark; it's called The Beginning Comes After the End. She also has a newsletter called Meditations in an Emergency. The most recent episode lays out very clearly how she sees the current violent actions of our government as desperate, fearful, weak and weakening.
Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca quotes Yale historian Joanne Freeman on this topic; she said this weekend in conversation with Heather Cox Richardson, "they realize it's their last ditch effort. They know that they're not a majority; they know that they do not have approval even if they're looking at all the polls that say people don't like what they're doing. They realize, and it's hard to believe this, but please listen: they are in a position of weakness, they are performing brutality, they are performing strength, they are performing dominance, because they don't have it. They don't have the numbers, they don't have the power. What we're seeing right now is concentrated, forceful, nasty, bloody because it's their last attempt to grab what they've been trying to get all along but they realize that fates are not with them."
I've shared many times the resources that can help you protest in the streets, write letters or make phone calls. Those don't call to everyone, though, and even if we're doing those things, there is more to be done, so many ways to step up for good.
This week community member Andrea Moed joined the weekly Meditation Gathering. She lives in the Hudson Valley, which has many prisons, and had just gotten home from driving a woman from the train station to a local prison to visit her partner. She did this as a part of the Beacon Prison Rides Project, "a volunteer-run organization providing free rides for families between the Beacon train station and Beacon-area prisons."
Each season I make a personal tithe, donating 5% of my income. This week I made my autumn tithe, and I (and therefore we if you have paid me) supported an organization in my community on the Olympic Peninsula called Olympic Angels. Their "mission is to walk alongside children, youth, and families in the foster care community by offering consistent support through intentional giving, relationship building, and mentorship." I learned of them from a friend who volunteers with them; she is assigned to a family who she supports with rides to medical appointments, occasional help with household matters, and time spent with the young person being fostered, just being another loving adult in their life.
On Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday some of my local students and I will be joining a day of service with the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, gathering to pull invasive beachgrass. If you're local and want to come, we'd love to see you there!
There are endless ways to do good in the world, and every form of action will nourish your sense of hope and empowerment as well as benefitting everyone and everything else. If you feel stuck, try doing something! Action breaks despair paralysis. There is astonishing good afoot, and you could be a part of it.
How This Treasure Trove Happens
This is entirely human work. My work. I do it all by hand, with my own mind and heart; I do not use AI in the creation of what I offer you. I don't have one. I invest at least half a day every week in the creation of this newsletter. It's a labor of love; I earned more when I worked at McDonald's as a kid. I do it because it is important to me, because I hear that it's important to you, and in hopes that it will grow and support me so I can keep supporting you.
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