fairdare
  • blog
  • Fairdare
  • ethical brands
  • zero-waste
  • zero-waste meals
  • about

inconstant

12/3/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
I have to admit that hope has been harder + harder to find in myself during the past few years. Like many, I have had to come to terms with the recognition that things are not just getting better + better by themselves...that humanity is not on an inevitable, upward trajectory toward equity, love and "good". Climate change, racism, refugees, sexism, alternative facts, capitalistic greed, pandemics, identity discrimination, mass shootings and gun violence all point toward movement away from equity, love and "good". It all feels so extraordinarily heavy. Hope can just feel lost...trampled...decimated...in the weight of it all.

I was naive enough to be surprised by the "All Lives Matter" reaction to "Black Lives Matter". I believed that people would notice that racism is passé as they live further + further outside of it...that we will all come to recognize that love feels better than hate. Embarrassingly naive + privileged, I know.

When a local DJ made the comparison of BLM/ALM to when people say, "save the whales". He said that no one reacts by saying: but what about the sharks. Shark lives matter. I think this comparison breaks down quickly when we realize that sharks can't make signs. It is when people feel that they themselves will feel the effects of "acceptance" of the "other" or "progress"...that the call to love becomes colored by fear...and love becomes negotiable. Fear not only throws a wrench in the upward trajectory, but the weight of it throws the whole thing into reverse.

And yet, when I go searching with all my might for hope, I still believe it can be found in the realization that we are  not  naturally  moving toward better...that we cannot just depend on love always winning in the end...that our better angels won't just naturally prevail.

It is precisely because of this that we can recognize that individuals have to choose love...that they often do choose love...and that a sort of general consensus can follow. The civil rights movement did happen. An elected black man is now an elected party leader in the House of Representatives in this country built by enslaved people. 

And maybe this is an even greater hope. A hope that makes effort not only necessary, but fruitful. A hope that has the power to break the chains of fear + bring waves of freedom to love. 

Hope may be an inconstant companion...but a visitor worth the effort of inviting again + again.

Love,
Jane
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    on a journey toward zero-waste, simplicity, + compassion :: daring to choose fair one choice at a time
    Picture
    Picture


    categories

    All
    Fair Brands
    Fairdare
    Garden
    Made
    Reads
    Simple Budget
    Simple Holidays
    Simple Home
    Simple Wardrobe
    Simply Said
    Sustainable Self
    Wanderings
    Yum
    Zero Waste

    archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    all images by jane unless otherwise noted. copyright 2023.
    subscribe via email

    RSS Feed

    Follow