What's Possible?
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Hello friends, While on a walking break from the writer’s conference I taught at last weekend, I paused to snap a picture of a wall mural. It was advertising something—toasted English Muffins, I believe—and showed a mountain scene, with trees, lake, and sky, and people entertaining each other with song around a campfire. But besides the incongruity of such a beautiful scene marketing a breakfast bread, it was the message that stopped me: “Wake up to what’s possible.” Well. That’s where we are each day, isn’t it? And especially now. Why especially now? Because there are people in positions of power who wish to grind us down and quash our spirits. They don’t want us to imagine what is possible. They want us to shrink into ourselves in fear and defeat. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to do that. I’ve been fighting this battle since around age thirteen, and these days? As a gender nonconforming queer person, I refuse to be erased. And I refuse to let these people steal my joy, my vision, and my hope for a kinder future. So, every day, I write. Every day, I take a walk and notice beautiful things. Every day, I find a way to help someone. Every day, I wake up to what is possible, which includes both good and bad, and I choose to take action for the good and against the bad. How about you? How are you awakening to what is possible? What are you creating? What strategies are helping you through? Best wishes - Thorn I usually showcase my own projects down here, but today I want to highlight the work of the Border Butterflies Project. They work on behalf of trans immigrants.
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, I’m in the woods right now, with a group of friends, both old and new. There are deer here, small, gentle ones with large ears. The deer keep their distance, but not so far that I cannot read the glint in their eyes, or catch the curious fan of those ears. These deer are not tame. They just live in a world where the potential for harm is slim. For deer to live so unafraid means this is a sheltered place. A place they have learned to be slightly wary of the lumbering, two legged...
Hello friends, I write this from Portland, Oregon, which is under threat from the US Federal Government right now. This week, as the political landscape looks worse than ever, I’m choosing to celebrate small victories and cultivate pleasure. One: The first tiny victory I’d like to share is that, when I logged into my Libby Library app looking for ebooks to read, I found that a kind librarian had given my book Sushi Scandal a thumbs up and sweet recommendation! This lifted my heart and made me...
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...