Learned: Colin Kaepernick is a high-ranking NFL quarterback who is being punished with unemployment for making a bold statement and having that statement turned into something else by our white supremacist president. The washing machine at my parents’ house won’t stay level. Brother had to go to the ER, too much pain. Bright sunshine coming through the windows, while I’m writing, perturbs me.
3. Gumbo, WiFi, and Internet Access. 3.
Seems: Like I don’t really want to get up and go anywhere, that I just want to get through it. Like it would be cool to go for a walk around here without getting hit by a speeding vehicle. Like I should visit my brother at the hospital since they are keeping him longer. Like if I went for a walk, I would walk too far and need to call for a ride back. Like there needs to be a store at the end of a walk to motivate me. Like I will never start the rehab I so desperately need. Like there is a strange extra pressure behind my eyes. Like character assassination of any civil rights leader may trigger me to use words that could leave you feeling belittled.
New Habit(s): (I now have to fill this in every day to see what sticks.) Let it be. Take some kind of action that reminds you of the power of taking a committed action. Kneel during the national anthem, but keep walking stick in hand so I can get up. Have days when I don’t buy things.
Accomplished: Packed and made it to Portland. Made a big pot of Gumbo (with help). Didn’t do much or even shower or change clothes until Sunday which is sort of the opposite of accomplishment. Ordered coffee and nylon balloon whisk so next time I make Gumbo, I don’t have to use that old wooden spoon.
Thinking about: Walking around Lake Grove, looking at things I haven’t seen for a long time, and also seeing new things. How with great coaching, Colin Kaepernick could be a super-highly rated NFL quarterback AND respected civil-rights leader.
Q, again: Imagine you have three weeks coming up where you will shut off your current life and do things just for fun and joy – no working! Where and What comes to mind?
My Answer to that: The first thing that comes to mind is I’d love to go to some kind of three-week-long rehab retreat where everything is good and healthy and far from the media circus, where the only intended outcome is rejuvenation. Someplace like Esalen. It would be nice to attract a new love interest while there and engage in the types of activities that people engage in when they are new to each other. And make some kind of art because my brain likes that.
Video: https://vimeo.com/238096496
Reading: “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America” by Ibram X. Kendi, and “A Wall Between” by Anne Braden
