Last week, I had a small surgery that turned out to be a bigger deal than I expected. Because there was pain in one place, my whole body rearranged itself to protect the surgery site. It's like a shock when you suck in your breath and hold it thinking this will protect you. Or like carrying around a dish of water, and you hold your breath, trying to not spill it.
On Sundays I dance 5 rhythms with 30 or 40 people. It gets sweaty and wild and sometimes a tangle of bodies moving together. Clearly not the place to bring my fragile body. But I went and found I could dance everywhere BUT the surgery area, that the wound was actually small and localized, and my arms, legs, feet, shoulders and head let loose.
Our political moment seems a bit like this, like we've all sucked in our breath and are holding it as something large and dangerous comes towards us and nothing we know from ordinary life prepares us to meet it.
But we have arms, legs, feet, shoulders and heads, we can move everywhere but where we feel stymied. Refocus on where we do have power, we can move, and build momentum there.
Where is our power, even if the one we consider the greater or lesser of two evils wins the presidency?
We have power in culture
It's in art and culture - and dance. It is in connection and celebration and creativity. My friend Rick Ingrasci M.D.says "if you want to change the world, throw a better party."
There is so much to love and to protect and so many places where we can still change the course of events. I'm not saying we will, but I am saying we can let loose.
We have power in protest
… in taking the the streets in memorable protests, from MLK to climate action to groups. Part are the anthems of movements, Pete Seeger, Holly Near, “We Shall Overcome” and poets have given us the words we need to carry on. Maybe the point is as much to carry on as it is to win.
We have power locally
… and we lose sight of this when we are mesmerized by, say, the Trump Biden rematch. It's in school boards and other boards and electing people who will listen at town meetings. Not to abandon national politics, but as in "all politics is local."
Courage is our power
It is also in courage, a kind of courage I am learning, the courage of a tree or of an antelope or the guy who chooses to mate with a praying mantis - something about standing your ground, following your original instructions, being a bead on the endless string of creatures that do not consider their inevitable death in choosing right action.
Is this "coming of aging" for the United States, in which we realize that our high minded ideals are one thing, but daily life (be it for individuals or groups) is another?
Over thirty years ago I thought we, through the teachings in Your Money or Your Life could actually turn the tide of consumerism, for the sake of our sanity and the sake of the world. I learned, painfully, that a battle cry can get us off our butts and passionately into the game, but it does not really change the world. It changes people, and people change people and the river flows on. Ideals and big beautiful ideas inspire us to not give up. Our ideals are beacons, not goals.
Coming of aging is the humble recognition that you are not such a big deal, but you can play your part with grace and sass as the great mystery unfolds. This is a lesson the USA is far from learning while the rest of the world prepares for our hubris to get the best of us.
As they say in Mardi Gras, the blow-off party before the season of repentance: Laissez les bon temps rouler.
SCOTUS has changed everything. If elected, Trump and his descendants will extinguish any and all who show the slightest bit of resistance. It could take generations and (indeed!) the patience and persistence of trees.