just a moment in time

yemen

who would have thought it

i’ve been looking for who is doing what needs to be done in this moment

honestly

i’ve been deeply pissed off and i can’t say disappointed because none of it is surprising, but i just 

it never cieses to amaze me how wacked the industrial world is

for 75 day…for 75 years, israel has been inflicting genocidal violence on the palestinian people. now bombing the shit out of gaza, with no concern even for their own people caught in the crossfire

on top of it cop28 was held in dubie… one of if not the most oil rich state in the world, with the most fossil fuel lobbyist ever in attendance for a global conference on the climate crisis? seriously? 

then

then the person of the year is announced by time magazine, and it is taylor swift…again?

and the word of the year is rizz so i guess that does go together, but really?

the world is coming together in support of palestine in so many ways. taking to the streets. calling for global general strikes. mass demonstrations all over the world. major boycotts that are having major impacts.

and then there is yemen

yemen. an impoverished arab state with a humanitarian crisis of its own, and what do they do? they perhaps take the biggest stand/risk of any nation-state. they block all ships wanting to move supplies through the red sea, forcing them to reroute around the continent of africa! this has huge corporation like bp to stop shipping in the area. bp who has held huge fossil fuel contracts with israel (as does the eu, great britain, and the u.s. 

so

if yemen can do this

if the journalists of palestine can risk their lives every moment of every day so we can be informed

if the palastinian artists can still find ways to sing and create moments of joy

if the sun still rises

and the seasons still turn

what can i do

what do i risk

what i want to say here is, there are so many things going on in the world right now and so many capitalist distractions to keep us from taking action but making sure we go holiday shopping. so many feelings that make me freeze in my steps to the point i feel like i just can’t move

and then

yemen

yemen found their point of power in the situation, the thing they could do.

i want to be like yemen

i don’t have much to offer, but i do have a vision

and in this vision i can see who i want to support and how i can do that isn’t always evident, but i am learning about where i want to put my money (not that i have much) how i want to get my food, what i want to read, listen to (silence, birds, rain), the pace i want to move my life…these things we each have when we strip away the distractions and reveal our own true and deep values not attached to should’s or suppose to’s, but to that inner knowing. i hope in these times, as in all times, you are finding that stillness in yourself that gives space to go out in the world and be your unique you.

p.s. my person of the year would be courtney dewalter, or sally mcrae, or maybe alok, or the whole crew of reservation dogs, or maybe it is all my good pals that inspire me to get up each day. but really, why do we want to put one person at the top of a list every fucking year? none of them got there on their own. it takes all of us so lets celebrate the coming light of a new season.

p.p.s. i also don’t know why we need a word of the year. go out there and use all of them. make some up. be your own dictionary