Grief and fear aren’t going anywhere anytime soon

And that's OK.

Dec 01, 2024

December 1, 2024—new moon in Sagittarius

Hello,

It’s dusk on the first day of December, the sky is washed with turquoise and amber, and I’m writing. To you, at the moment—a bit earlier, a poem.

After some writing/deleting calisthenics, it turns out that what I’m sending you today is more thoughtstream than letter. I tried expanding it into a longer article, but it seemed more respectful to place the ideas here and trust you to do with them what, if anything, you choose to do.

I understand that we all have finite capacities, finite amounts of energy to toss at the world and it’s aching and chaos. Perhaps something here will strike a spark for you that feels like it will feed your flame? (If we were sitting around my kitchen table, I’d suggest picking the statement that provokes the strongest response and using it as a the catalyst for some free writing, but that’s just me.)

If these aren’t your groove, there’s still a Defiant Joy poem at the end. (Have any of you explored writing your own Defiant Joy poems/phrases?)

Not tonight’s sky, but close. (I shot this back in 2020.)

The aforementioned thoughtstream

One life-affirming thing we can do is to create “Islands of Sanity”.

“An Island of Sanity is a gift of possibility and refuge created by people’s commitment to form healthy community to do meaningful work.” Margaret J. Wheatley1

Leadership is for all of us.

“Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.” Margaret J. Wheatley
“A leader is anyone willing to help, anyone who sees something that needs to change and takes the first steps to influence that situation.” Margaret J. Wheatley

Poetry (making and engaging with all the arts, really) is a fierce tool, well-suited for the act of creating Islands of Sanity.

“Let us remember ... that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less apt to destroy both.” Christian Wiman2

Grief and fear aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. (This may apply mostly to me but, based on recent conversations, I don’t think so.) So I find it helpful to consider that:

“Grief feels, sometimes, like a burden. A heavy one. But it is also a practice.” Myka Kielbon 3
“Fear is fuel.” Tracie Nichols (Yes, me.)

And now for that poem I promised

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

Defiant Joy 2024 #3

I held snarling, aching,
lonely, fear-coated
grief in one worn hand,
 
soft, strong, tendrils
of rich green, mossy
hope in the other,

and watched them talk.

With respect and a dash of defiant joy,

Tracie