Love Notes on Liberation ll
Reframing hope
I keep thinking about a message I heard from an organizer:
We must combat despair.
In the wake of the election, many of us have temporarily lost contact with the meaning of our paths, the dreams we have are feeling futile. From where we are right now, we’re not sure how to move forward. At least not yet.
Since the election, I’ve been feeling around in the dark, and I keep hearing the words combat despair. I looked up their definitions, thinking maybe they’d be little lanterns pointing ahead.
Combat: take action to reduce or prevent something bad or undesirable.
Despair: the complete loss or absence of hope.
Take action to prevent the complete loss of hope.
Maybe the key to combatting despair is in reframing hope to something we can wield right now. And maybe what we can muster is willingness.
I am willing to be here. I am willing to be feeling what I feel. I am willing to keep moving through this challenge. I am willing to stay connected to myself and my community. I am willing to ask for help and offer support. I know that a new way forward is possible, and I am willing to participate in the work it takes to reach a collective goal.
Willingness is something we can hold steady, something that can’t be taken from us, even in the most dire outcomes.
I don’t just hope, I know and I am willing.
In our willingness we can acknowledge that we are supposed to be here on Earth, right now, and if we are willing to accept our current reality, we are also empowered to accept our role here, in change, in this moment.
We can’t control the twists and turns our road will take, but we can be willing to travel it. We can be willing to answer the call. What part do you want to play in liberation? What are the gifts you can share with your loved ones, with your community, & with the world?
We need all kinds of people doing all kinds of things.
Little drops of water make the mighty ocean.
∞
Sending love,
Emily
We are called to lead not from left to right, or from minority to majority, but from spirit toward liberation.
adrienne maree brown, “Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds”
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