Seeking Love
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Hello friends, “The search for love continues even in the face of great odds” the paper stapled to the battered wood of a utility pole read. I paused en route to lunch with an old friend to ponder the message. I am not certain whether the person who made the sign referred to the personal, intimate, partnership type of love, or the love of friends or family, or some other kind of love. But the reason the sign made me pause is that to me, it spoke of hope. Odds seem stacked against us. Rights eroded. Oceans rising. Lakes drained and fires raging. Neighbors being rounded up. Economic precarity only getting worse… the list, as usual, goes on. But against these great odds, there is still love. Love is a strange type of hope. Love is a promise: We are all connected, whether we like it or not, and we always shall be. Every long time activist I’ve encountered continues to work out of love. Love doesn’t mean despair never rears its head. Love doesn’t mean there is not anger or even rage, at times. Love simply means we keep going. The people I know who were inspired only by anger, retaliation, or something else tend to not last more than a season, or at best, a year or two. The same is true for art and creativity. Those of us who are in it for love tend to keep going even in the face of what others might call failure. We love our craft enough to remain curious about where it will take us, and what we will learn. We can apply love to any area of the human condition. We can seek love out, regardless of what hardship is stacked against us. What are your thoughts on love? Best wishes — Thorn
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T. Thorn Coyle
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Hello friends, James Baldwin is one of my favorite writers. He was also a massively intelligent and cogent thinker, who held great insight into the human condition. Baldwin saw in us a breathtaking capacity for love, he also gazed unflinchingly at the worst parts of humanity, mostly our bigotry and greed. Along with his writing, teaching, and activism, Baldwin fought for a life in which he had time and space to do the deep thinking that gave rise to his insights. He also danced with friends,...
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