Capitalism teaches us that the resources we need to thrive are finite, but this is a lie. You deserve to thrive, not merely to survive. You deserve people around you who insist on your thriving. You deserve pie, because there is enough for everyone.
Who are the people who insist on your thriving?
“We want to invite you into this kind of labor that allows us all to be fully ourselves while embracing those around us…. This is truly a labor of love that yields unexpected crops of joy and safety.” -Nia Chiaramonte and Katie J. Chiaramonte, from their book Embracing Queer Family: Learning to Live Authentically in Our Families and Communities
How do you embrace yourself and others authentically? Who helps you with that?
“The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table. So it has been since creation, and it will go on.” -Joy Harjo, from her poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here”
How do you prepare and share the gifts of the Earth with those you care about?
“My mother and uncle are clearly the most skilled dancers. They settle into an easy rhythm together, floating across the old terrazzo flooring, the card players occasionally pausing to watch them. Order turns to chaos as everyone takes turns practicing steps on their own, and then we engage with other family members. We each bring our own skills, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses to Tango, but always we seek to balance feeling our way through the relationship of the dance with each new partner—and with respect and love for the person and the music’s rhythm.” -Katie Romano Griffin, from a Braver/Wiser reflection
Who are the people your skills, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses balance?
“I’ve always found early morning a holy time—not that I necessarily want to be awake then; sometimes what is holy is also difficult—and as a new parent, early morning has taken on new levels of sacred. Now I hold my crying son against my chest and he quiets, breathing warm against my neck, as I murmur lullabies. That warm breath makes my eyes prickle.” -Caitlin Cotter Coillberg, from a Braver/Wiser reflection that ends with this prayer:
May we carry joy into each new day, and practice hope even and especially in the midst of grief and uncertainty. May we have the courage to love, again and again and again, and may we love with the fierce determination our world and lives demand.
