Re-Humanizing Each Other
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Hello friends My intention for this week’s newsletter was to share what I’d written on community prosperity and magic a couple of weeks ago. Or the podcast I just did on love and determination during hard times. And I’m still going to, below, because those thoughts are important, too. But first, I need to speak honestly about my current state. It’s not my usual uplifting musings, and I hope that’s okay with you. Last night, my sleep was troubled. I kept waking with thoughts of the men in CECOT prison, and the planes in Texas waiting to take 200 more immigrants to that pit of brutality without even the thinnest veneer of due process. All prisons are brutal, but this one seems worse than should even be imaginable. This morning, the news tells me that the US Supreme Court finally woke up and did something to stop the latest transport. I’m relieved. And I also know this fight is far from over. Yesterday, I sent out a call to file a complaint with the UN Human Rights Commission about the abuses at CECOT and the US transports, and I still think that is a good idea. It is one small way to take action. We must approach our current situation from all angles, whether supporting immigrant’s rights organizations, writing letters, marching in the streets, monkey wrenching the companies of the people in charge of this debacle, creating safe space for LGBTQ+ kids, or supporting our neighbors. But the first thing we must do? We must re-humanize one another in order to combat this fascism based on hatred. Dehumanization is the key to their power. Did you know that Martin Niemöller was an anti-Semite who supported the Nazis? They still took him to a concentration camp. His famous poem is not a parable or metaphor. It actually happened to him. He said nothing as group after group was rounded up, until literally, there was no one left to stand with him. Niemöller’s regret and remorse were real. They also came too late. It is not too late for us. Whenever we hear dehumanizing language, or witness dehumanizing actions—be they against trans people, disabled people, racialized people, immigrants, or people of different religions—we can speak up. We can ask questions. We can intervene. We can act. And we can, whenever possible, look upon each other with kindness and support our best natures. In supporting our best natures, we have a chance to welcome each other into pockets of safety and love. We have a chance to make it through. Thanks for being here — Thorn If you are interested in more thoughts about ways to make it through, here is my recent podcast on fostering determination through love: Magic, Creativity, and Life And my essay on community prosperity: Community Prosperity, Community Health.
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, I posted a picture of a cat on social media this morning with the caption “Sometimes we need to speak up.” It was a close up of the beautiful creature talking to me. Here it is: Close up photo of a meowing cat. But there’s a story behind that photo, one that relates to so many of us right now. The cat wasn’t just greeting me. The cat was asking me for help. Here's the story: On one of my walks, I spied this cat watching me. I stopped and greeted it when it was still a couple of...
Hello friends, It’s the time of the equinox, which means the sun appears to rise and set due east and due west. Also, day and night appear to exist in equal measure. It is a time of balance. A time to pause and reflect. Time. I keep repeating that word. As I approach my sixtieth revolution around the sun—yes, I was born just past the autumnal equinox—I feel the acceleration of time. But I also notice the steadiness of life itself. In youth, time stretches, yet life itself often feels...
Hello friends, Well, it was another stressful week here in the US and some other parts of the globe. When things feel overwhelming, what is important to me is to connect with what is in my physical environment. I make my bed in the morning. I wipe the kitchen counters. I set things in order. What else do I do? I make sure I go for a walk, even when I have a pile of work to do that feels endless. It is on these walks that, not only do I notice my environment, but I also catch sight of how...