Love Notes on Liberation lll
How we survive this
A couple days before the election I started having vivid dreams. One night I dreamt about women living under patriarchy. A familiar reality, of course, but this time I felt I was being given directions. That morning as I wrote my dream in my journal a phrase came forward: how we survive this. Since the election, we’ve seen a surge in misogynist rhetoric online and learned that Christian nationalists not only plan on banning our rights to reproductive health, but also envision stripping other rights like voting. We are facing an uphill battle and the women in my dream were showing me the way through with following actions:
Care & Protection: Women were intervening on each other's behalf, sometimes overtly and sometimes quietly. There was a silent understanding and sharing we held together. Our resistance was based on care and harm reduction, on looking out for each other. We were protecting one another from oppressive individuals and systems. We were meeting the needs of other women in any way we could.
Upholding & Collaboration: The women in my dream were talking about each other and to each other with so much respect and admiration. Our gifts were celebrated and upheld. No woman was in this alone—we were a network and our different talents were recognized and shared openly. We were held in awe and celebration in each other’s gaze and believed in what we had to offer. We created safety & thriving through unity.
Group Efforts in Joy: At the end of my dream we danced. We danced together and laughed loudly. We let our wild spill over and roll out of us as a deep joy from within that could never be taken. The celebratory energy was for us, for our lives, for our hearts, and bodies. The rest of the world didn’t matter for a moment, couldn't touch us, and we were changing it with our joy.
What the dream women were showing me was what I talk about when I say love is what saves us. The steps laid out in my dream are all ways to love—examples of loving. Take loving action to care for yourself, your community, and the most vulnerable. Walk in love. Live intentionally in love.
Love is liberation, Love is a verb.
If you haven’t yet, urge President Biden to certify the Equal Rights Amendment to the constitution & protect women’s rights by clicking here.
Love you,
Emily
The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.
bell hooks
Love notes on Liberation - Spiritual & practical nourishment for loving liberation from Autonomous Muse