Hello friends, It’s the full moon today, which is a time I like to pause and reset my focus. After a rough few days because of the state of cruelty in the world—including the minor personal annoyance of dealing with a sudden mass of deeply unhappy and toxic trolls because one of my photos went viral on Facebook—last night, I did some cleansing and recentered before bed. This morning, after lighting my candles and making my prayers, I decided once again that today I would focus on the things I love. Because that’s what is important, isn’t it? Love is the reason the cruelty makes me angry and gets me down. Love is the reason I do what I do, day in and day out. Love is why I keep showing up. And I love and appreciate so many things about my life and this world. There are people whom I love. Chance moments. The moon in the night sky. A song in my ears. Squirrels chasing around a tree. A mourning dove at the bird bath. Stickers on sign posts. A good cup of tea. The fall of camellia petals on a blue recycling bin. Bernice King—and many others—link justice and love, and I think that is correct. She wrote: “Justice is Love lived out. Justice isn’t revenge, it’s re/alignment with Love. Justice re/aligns culture with Love. Justice re/aligns the climate with Love. Justice re/aligns policies with Love. Justice holds institutions accountable for Love. Justice is love we can witness.” I appreciate this reminder that love is powerful. Love is not avoidance or suppression. Love confronts the world as it is and helps us grow in better alignment with healthier, more compassionate forms of what could be. How about you? What do you love this week? I’d like to hear about it. Best wishes - Thorn
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Hello friends, There’s a lot of new growth to see on my walks around the city. Tiny green needles at the tips of the Douglas firs. Sprouting grasses. New hops clambering over fences. Tiny figs and unfurling leaves on an equally tiny sidewalk fig tree… There’s planning happening, too. Finches scouting nest sites. Crows gathering twigs. Tiny green figs on a tiny fig tree. All of this new growth and planning fills my heart with joy. So does what feels like celebration in the riot of flowers, the...
Hello friends On one of my walks, I encountered chalk art on the sidewalk. It’s not uncommon, in neighborhoods where children live, to find scraggly ghosts of hopscotch grids, or flowers, or rainbows at one’s feet. This time, it was a pink and yellow heart. I smiled, paused, and snapped this photo: Photo of a pink and yellow chalk heart on a sidewalk. That heart stayed with me, though, because this heart was not just evidence that someone had given a child some chalk to while away a bit of...
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...