Mood: Optimistic
On Thursday nights, Amy and I meet with our original webinar alums. We’ve been meeting for most of the pandemic and we’ve grown into a tight knit group of friends spanning ages, marital status, and geography. We marvel at our virtual friendship which has been an enlightening forum to process the highs and, mostly lows, of 2020. This past Thursday night, the whole conversation was amazingly positive and wonderfully mundane.
G. went to the Florida Keys for an overnight and spent time with someone other than her family for two whole days. And even though they were in Florida, everyone was cool with wearing their masks the whole time! S.’s dog had a good health check up and she received a vaccine shot - but not at the vet’s! H. is getting back into hip hop and has been on her new rowing machine. A. was experiencing good results on a new medication and I was babbling on about how great grandparenting is.
The whole conversation was delightfully...humdrum, which I experienced as very, very positive, especially since it was just one week after our first insurrection. No, I don’t think that this is a new low for my standards of optimism. President Elect Biden had just addressed the country that afternoon and it was refreshing to see a good old fashioned leader talk for an entire half an hour about an in depth plan that will benefit Americans. The address was all about us, not him. Imagine! That actually feels optimistic!
I wasn’t an ardent Joe supporter. But early in the game, Amy and I talked about how unlikely it would be that any of our favorite candidates for the democratic presidential nominee would actually be chosen as the candidate - given the sheer volume of contenders. We realized that we would have to support the eventual candidate no matter what. And even though I said that, I really did not want Joe. I wanted younger, more progressive and hopefully female.
While I felt pretty strongly about that then, this Thursday, when Uncle Joe looked deep into my eyes and spoke, seemingly, directly to me about his plan, I was encouraged. I felt cared for. I felt good! I realize that we are still reeling from the insurrection and the continued reporting, arrests and ongoing investigation. But, we must keep our eyes on the prize(s). There was not a coup. There will be a transference of power. We have reclaimed the Senate. There are three vaccines.
These are (still) crazy and unprecedented times in our country. We have a long way to go. A. LONG. WAY. But it’s Martin Luther King Day, possibly the most hopeful American ever. At Perfect Avocado Retreats, we are honoring MLK day by remembering that his hopes and dreams were not a reflection of his reality. When he said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”, there was nothing in his experience that would support that statement. Martin Luther King was a master manifester and big dreamer.
Lastly, because good news can be elusive nowadays, I’m including an excerpt from Susie Tompkins Buell's newsletter, The Rising. It’s a newsletter created to help share information, to inspire involvement, and to encourage joy! If you like it, you can subscribe at sbuell@buellofficesf.com.