Beloved friends,
Holy stars, it has only been two weeks since I shared with you last, but what a revolution there has been in the national mood! James and I went into an old growth redwood forest for our annual campout and returned to a changed world. Watching political leaders lean into joy, silliness, and love is incredible. This is a powerful time of transformation. I'm excited to be here with you. I encourage you to let the winds of hope nourish you while they are afoot, dear one.
Transformation is also afoot in my temple, which is now filled regularly with kind people rolling on the floor, laughing and crying. Oh, the joy of welcoming people to my home for yoga and healing touch once again! I invited a neighbor who invited a few friends, then another neighbor who invited a few friends and suddenly I needed to hire a carpenter to build the prop shelving I'd been dreaming of because we needed every inch of floor space for people. It feels wonderful to be serving both my local community in Cascadia and our far-flung community, to be threading widely through the world.
My second Lovingkindness course is in its final weeks. At one of our Saturday Gatherings an activist shared with the group while sitting on a suitcase in an airport, teary with exhaustion and emotion from the grueling efforts they are putting into this election. Marcy Swenson, bearing witness to this, thought that this was a place where her skills as an executive coach could do good for democracy, and, being a big thinker, that this was a place where executive coaches more widely could support the people laying it down hard right now for democracy. Within days, Marcy and David Goldsmith had made Coach For Democracy live: a website where executive coaches can step up to offer to support leaders in organizations working to elect Democratic candidates and get out the vote, and where those leaders can ask for a coach; the organization handles matching. What a joy to see this creative energy and generosity afoot! Thanks and best wishes to Marcy and that activist and everyone working for global safety in this election.
Cosmic Context
The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak this year on August 12th, with good viewing also likely on the 11th and 13th. The American Meteor Society says, "a half-illuminated moon will have set by midnight, allowing dark skies to prevail the remainder of the night. This will make evening viewing difficult as faint meteors may be obscured by moonlight. After moonset, only local light pollution and clouds will reduce the number of meteors you will see." Full details. I also loved this article from EarthSky on the radiant points of meteor showers; this kind of information really helps me build my mental model of the cosmos. Meteor shower watching is a powerful form of meditation: an open-orientation gazing meditation. Reach out if you'd like to egg each other on in late-night alarm-setting, darling.
Talking it Out
A lot of us are feeling a lot of things about the Harris/Walz ticket. There is a wind of hope and euphoria blowing. I'm also hearing that Tim Walz' kind, decent, whip-smart Midwestern dad/coach energy is opening a door to grief for some people aching for loved ones they have lost to disinformation and manipulation. If that resonates for you, you might want to check out this Jezebel article exploring that phenomenon.
This connects with my favorite lines from the most recent Reading Circle of Braiding Sweetgrass:
If grief can be a doorway to love, then let us all weep for the world we are breaking apart so we can love it back to wholeness again.
We'll be having our final session on August 13, reading Defeating Windigo and Epilogue: Returning the Gift. All are welcome.
Dan Pfeiffer is the co-host of Pod Save America and a former senior advisor to President Obama. His Substack The Message Box is "a newsletter for people who want to defeat Donald Trump and MAGA extremism from". He is thoughtful, incisive, often positive, kind and frequently includes talking points for discussion with folks ensnared in the MAGA movement. Thanks to Jenifer.
Another thread I'd like to weave from Lovingkindness is an outstanding resource on communication: a little presentation of How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and How to Listen So Kids Will Talk which works for people of all ages. A useful toolkit for clear communication. This pdf is a quick read and a great primer or refresher. Thanks to Stephany.
The Balm of Song
Bill Callahan (aka Smog)'s new album is fantastic! We listened to a whole lot of music while driving 3,400 miles in July and this was the standout. On Bandcamp. On Spotify.
