Tag Archive | Robert Hubbell

Standing Together

Nov6

Yesterday was a rough day. It was the third anniversary of the death of the Best Boy Ever, my precious Stellar Stardog. Oh, and also, America somehow elected a lying, traitorous, convicted felon as its next president. So things will get a lot harder next year for a lot of Americans, for people all over the planet, for all beings on Earth, and for the planet itself.

And for the oceans, too, of course. I started ‘Ocean Life’ the other day.

I was staggered to learn that 33% of eligible voters didn’t vote in this crucial election. And a third voted for the Loser, and a third voted for the woman of color. As Robert Hubbell succinctly clarifies, this was quite simply because of “racism, misogyny, and white nationalism… it’s not more complicated than that.” In a livestream this evening, he made the compassionate point that millions are unable to vote for many reasons including various iterations of simply struggling to survive. And the comforting point that many more people actually support the Democratic vision of America than the angry, divisive paradigm now rising to power. If you do not subscribe to his newsletter I cannot recommend it highly enough, especially as we step courageously into the brave new world, arms linked, standing together. He’s not quitting, and neither should we.

One delightful surprise that came my way last weekend was this epiphytic bromeliad, arriving unexpectedly from Florida. “It should enjoy life in a well lit window with occasional misting,” my friend wrote. “It comes to you from the Hurricane Helene debris in my yard, having previously lived in the large live oak hanging over the house. It is doubtless misshapen from its time in the plastic bag, but it should recover its proper shape anon. When I saw it lying in the yard, I immediately saw your name on it.” No gift could have meant more to me. The green epiphyte clings staunchly to a fragment of mossy live oak twig. I gave it a good rinse and wrapped it with a string of peppers and beads, then hung it in the west window.

Today, I’ve felt courageous and resilient. I’m not quitting either. After I led a somewhat somber, somewhat relaxing, somewhat supportive meditation in telesangha this morning, I opened a message from a friend with this quote from Rebecca Solnit:

“They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving. You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. You can be heartbroken or furious or both at once; you can scream in your car or on a cliff; you can also get up tomorrow and water the flowerpots and call someone who’s upset and check your equipment for going onward. A lot of us are going to come under direct attack, and a lot of us are going to resist by building solidarity and sanctuary. Gather up your resources, the metaphysical ones that are heart and soul and care, as well as the practical ones. People kept the faith in the dictatorships of South America in the 1970s and 1980s, in the East Bloc countries and the USSR, women are protesting right now in Iran and people there are writing poetry. There is no alternative to persevering, and that does not require you to feel good. You can keep walking whether it’s sunny or raining. Take care of yourself and remember that taking care of something else is an important part of taking care of yourself, because you are interwoven with the ten trillion things in this single garment of destiny that has been stained and torn, but is still being woven and mended and washed.” Rebecca Solnit

Notice the cute seahorse whimsy piece on the left edge, making part of the seahorse image? This is about where I got to by Monday night, when I stopped puzzling to savor the sunset and then eat a decent meal.
Tuesday morning, to keep calm and grounded, I took the advice of Bill McKibben, and spent time outside savoring Nature, loving life and wild things, while I still can.

Then I puzzled some more and listened to a dharma talk, keeping calm, and after lunch I spent time in the garden, where the little blueberry bush surprised me with its beautiful red foliage. I hope it grew good strong roots this summer, and will grow big and strong next year.

As I added to this section, I realized I’d had it sideways. As so often happens, fresh perspective allowed me to build more effectively.

One of the nicer surprises to wake up to this morning was a six-inch snowfall, bringing much-needed moisture to the dry ground. A local covid case led the Bibliofillies to hold our monthly meeting via zoom this afternoon, and we were all grateful, I think, to not drive out in the snow. I was certainly grateful for this somewhat grieving, somewhat cheery gathering of fellow fillies, first to confirm our solidarity and intentions going forward, and second to engage in joyfully civil discourse between two equal factions with diametrically opposing opinions of the book, The Bear. This link to an overview on the National Endowment for the Arts website reminds me that if Project 2025 gets its way, we’ll have no more government support for any kind of arts. Oh well. It’s what America thinks it wants. Or more likely, most of those people who voted for the Biggest Loser really had no idea what he really intends to do.

We’ll know more later. Meanwhile, I’m going to continue to celebrate the arts in all the ways I love doing, and to savor, celebrate, and honor Nature; to practice right livelihood by teaching and facilitating meditation and mindfulness; and to stand together with people of compassion, kindness, integrity, and wisdom, come what may.

Courage

Feb10
Leftovers: a crabcake smashed into a cheese and avocado sandwich.

I’m grateful today for courage. Not mine, but the courage of the many voices being raised in the independent news and opinion sphere about the recklessly biased coverage of the two presumptive candidates for president this coming November. Once again, mainstream media is following the lead of rightwing so-called ‘news’ like Fox propaganda, by trumpeting the grandiose theatrics of the former narcissist-in-chief while ignoring his daily distortions, lies, and cognitive failures; at the same time, pouncing like a starving cat on a single mixup by an accomplished and proven statesman who cares more about Americans than about his own ego, and more about the planet than his own profit.

The New York Times and The Washington Post, among other infotainment outlets, won the 2016 election for Trump with their free nonstop promotions, and seem on track to do the same thing again in 2024. Their recent egregiously skewed coverage of the biased Hur report and their relentless attacks on President Biden for his age and occasional mistakes is unfathomable. I can’t say anything about it nearly as well as courageous writers like Robert Hubbell in Today’s Edition:

“Perhaps voters don’t question Trump’s sharpness despite more frequent and serious misstatements because the NYTimes devotes an inordinate amount of coverage to Biden’s missteps but hardly mentions Trump’s. The Times creates the dominant narrative and then claims it doesn’t have to report on the counter-narrative because voters aren’t interested in it! What arrogance!

Within the 24-hour window of the NYTimes raking Biden over the coals, the following Republicans misspoke but the Times reacted with indifference:

  • “An hour after Biden says the President of Egypt is the President of Mexico Trump says the Prime Minister of Hungary, [Viktor Orban] is the President of Turkey”—a repeated mistake by Trump on the campaign trail.
  • Speaker Mike Johnson confused the countries of Iran and Israel in an interview on Fox News, saying that the US has already “funded Iran” in the existing US budget—a mistake viewed as slanderous by the tens of millions of citizens in both countries.
  • Fox News infotainer posing as a journalist Jesse Watters introduced South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the “South Carolina Governor.”

Another daily voice for sanity is Jessica Craven, who shared in her newsletter yesterday her letter to the NYT editorial board. A bonus with her newsletter is a weekly dose of good news which celebrates political, environmental, and social justice victories in the previous week, of which there are many. Here’s an excerpt of her letter to the Times:

“What can the New York Times be thinking? Trump shows clear signs of cognitive impairment. You regularly give him a pass. President Biden is considered by all who’ve interacted with him—including his political enemies—to be sharp and capable. The Hur report was written by a former Trump associate; it was a political hit piece and the Times bought into it with zero journalistic scrutiny. 

I have to ask again, do your editors WANT a Trump presidency? Because that’s what your misleading, biased, and hysterically one-sided coverage will bring us. 

History will not be kind to the Times for its relentless attacks on the one man capable of saving us from dictatorship. Shame on you.”

As agitated as I am by the unraveling political coverage, I still make sure that I appreciate the simple pleasures in life, taking time to enjoy a simple, delicious lunch: homemade sourdough toast with ‘fromage fort’ and avocado, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of homemade paprika. We have to nurture and take care of ourselves, and find joy in our lives, in order to have the strength and resilience to rise to the demands of our current crises, be they personal, local, national, or global.

If you feel discouraged by the media narratives that are shaping the opinions of Americans, then take some action to shape the media narratives. Write to the papers or networks you follow, share your outrage on social media, use your right to free speech, and speak truth not only to power but to the media that seems to control it. Join one of the thousands of grassroots political organizations that sprang up during the Trump regime to fight his agenda of power and tax cuts for the wealthy, stepping up the rape of the planet, racism, antisemitism, white male supremacy, and oppression of minorities of all kinds. Subscribe to Hubbell’s and Craven’s newsletters, they tell us how to fight this fight every single day. If we don’t beat Trump at the ballot box in November or legitimately stop his campaign before that, we are in for a worse nightmare than you can imagine.

But as Hubbell often says, we’ve beaten him and his agenda in almost every election since 2016, from special elections to midterms and the 2020 presidential election; we can do it again. “We have every reason to be hopeful, but no reason to be complacent!”

Justice

Apr4

Though I enjoyed having salads for lunch for a couple days, I was so glad to bake a loaf of bread that the Kitchen Ants did not get to devour. It was finished late last night and I cooled it in the mudroom inside the cake keeper. After slicing, I froze half of it just in case, and they didn’t try the keeper during the day but just to be safe I put it back in the mudroom tonight.

I was so grateful today for the cheese sandwich. Cheddar, provolone, pickled iceberg, bean sprouts… I was also so grateful for the voters of Wisconsin (and all the volunteers who got out the vote) who elected a sensible state Supreme Court justice who will fight to preserve human rights and prevent electoral corruption next year. Why was this such a pivotal election with potentially national consequences? Ask Robert Hubbell.

Meanwhile, back at Mirador, I was grateful to wake up alive. I’m also grateful for my smart little dog, who with just a week of training is now eagerly supporting my exercise regime.

Are we ready?
C’mon! Hurry UP! I’ve been ready for ages!

Light Amid Darkness

Jan25
How it feels sometimes…

I realize just now with dismay that not only did I not post last night, but neither did Robert Hubbell. I hope that readers of the world managed to start their days without benefit of either of our insights and wisdom! I rely on Hubbell to get me through the dishes each morning and start my day with a compassionate and wise view of the previous day’s news.

I tried to post last night and I just couldn’t do it. My own small gratitude practice couldn’t seem to bring enough light into the darkness. I felt petty feeling good about anything. The two mass shootings in a row in California cast such a pall over the days of so many Americans, between the unfathomable grief of those communities, and the trauma that revisits every survivor and victim’s family of the incalculable stream of mass shootings that has unspooled with burgeoning obdurance since Columbine.

But this morning I rallied and brought myself to this day with presence, gratitude, and loving kindness, with patience and even some joy. For what good does it do the world for me to dwell in sorrow and despair? We can each only do what we can do, and to greet each day with gratitude and the intention to make it meaningful through good works and right thinking has got to be enough. There is far more in this world that I cannot control than I can. The only thing I can control is the attitude and the action I bring to each day, each moment. I can be of more benefit in this fleeting life to myself and others with resilience and kindness than with grief and anger. I can bring light to my own small sphere of influence, and try to help others do the same, and our efforts will ripple out to reach even more people.

This is the principle underlying the Four Immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. When we fill our awareness with these, there is less room for their opposites: hatred, cruelty and ill-will, jealousy and envy, and attachment and aversion. This is my practice. May the fruits of my practice ripple out and be of benefit to all beings.

I’m grateful for the light amid darkness however it manifests…

So many components of mindfulness practice help me to hold both the joys of living and the immense sadness of being human in my heart at the same time. Among these are self-compassion, and choosing where I place my attention, so that I do not deplete my energy over things that are beyond my control. Another component is awareness of how we are all interconnected. With this awareness we can understand that working together we can create positive change. The majority of Americans favor banning assault weapons, and reasonable gun control. The minority holds the country hostage and we are the worse for it. I’m grateful for the citizens working their hearts out to bring attention to ways we can hold our governments accountable. One of these is Jessica Craven, an amazing activist who publishes a newsletter five days a week with easy actions you can do in five minutes to make your voice heard–she even includes scripts. A Sunday bonus edition bundles the week’s good news into an uplifting quick read. She is truly a light amid darkness.

“If Republicans Win, You Lose…”

Nov2

I’m grateful for yet another day of beautiful, mild fall weather which Wren and I could spend outside puttering in the garden, tidying up the yarden, before another winter storm blows in overnight. Already clouds are massing above, obscuring the waxing moon; there’s moisture in the dark air. I’m grateful to have some of the firewood stacked dry under the shed roof,

I’m grateful that the green tomatoes I brought in weeks ago are ripening so well! I pulled them out of the brown bags to finish on the counter before turning them into sauce. After a hard day’s work inside and out, Wren is grateful to rest with me.

I’m grateful for the steady wisdom of Robert Hubbell weekdays in my inbox: for his optimism, criticism, research, references, compassion, and wisdom. I can’t recommend his newsletter highly enough for all Americans who believe in democracy, equality, and true freedom. I also admire and am inspired by and grateful for pastor John Pavlovitz who promotes true Christian values of kindness and inclusion. And I’m grateful for Jessica Craven, Heather Cox Richardson, Dan Rather, the J6 Committee, and so many other voices on the national stage speaking truth in the face of corruption and lies; and for the thousands of door-knocking, phone-calling, postcard-sending activists in my community and yours who are putting their precious time and energy into spreading the news that if Republicans win next week, we all lose. If you follow this blog and you are not an advertising troll, you probably care about many of the same things I do. Please trust me on this: it is imperative that every one of you votes. It’s going to be a close election, and there will be nasty fallout with Republicans across the board refusing to honor the results if they lose. We have every reason to be hopeful, as Hubbell says often, and no reason to be complacent.