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 had oral surgery last week, and now that I’m able to eat kind-of-solid-but-still-mushy food, I’m making oatmeal every morning. As a consequence, I’ve been engaging in some simple honey magic. No, I’m not harvesting my own honey. No, I’m not leaving a jar of honey out beneath the full moon. Those are two magical things to do, but my ambitions right now are simpler. All I am doing is this: Gathering some honey on a teaspoon, I drizzle the golden amber substance into the bottom...
Hello friends, A mourning dove hoo-hoos outside my window. Black capped chickadees chirp and crows call. Daffodils spring along sidewalks, and the sun peers out among grey clouds. It is the time of equinox here on planet Earth. I love equinoxes and solstices, because these are four times a year when I stop to take a larger pause. To notice the changes—subtle and large—around me. In the seasons. In the slant of sun. In the conversations of birds. In the fall of snow or leaves, or the rise of a...
Hello friends, This has felt like a hard week, globally. Even as I watch events unfold from our comfortable home, I feel the psychic and emotional pressure. People are in danger, including in my home communities. Despite my relative privilege, I’m in danger, too. I wanted to name this pressure, in case you also feel it. But, here’s the thing, unless we need to actively get loved ones to safety right now, we need to choose to feel these emotions, and then regulate ourselves as best we can....