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Growing whole

"Growing up, we say, as though we were trees, as though altitude was all that there was to be gained, but so much of the process is growing whole as the fragments are gathered, the patterns found. Human infants are born with craniums made up of four plates that have not yet knit together into a solid dome so that their heads can compress to fit through the birth canal, so that the brain within can then expand. The seams of these plates are intricate, like fingers interlaced, like the meander of arctic rivers across tundra. ​ The skull quadruples in size in the first few years, and if the bones knit together too soon, they restrict the growth of the brain; and if they don't knit at all the brain remains unprotected. Open enough to grow and closed enough to hold together is what a life must also be. We collage ourselves into being, finding the pieces of a worldview and people to love and reasons to live and then integrate them into a whole, a life consistent with its beliefs and desires, at least if we're lucky."

- Rebecca Solnit in Recollections of My Nonexistence​

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There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”

- Zora Neale Hurston

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The revelation was so stunning to me that terminal shyness set in, and I never phoned him again.

from Lara B Sharp’s story of meeting Eric Carle.

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Jericho, February 3, 2020

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It’s a great privilege to be near art because when you’re near art, you can be another kind of person, and it allows you to think differently about things that you have never done.

- Richard Wentworth

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"Home is not where you are born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease."

-- Naguib Mahfouz

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"My personal legacy? I’d like it to be one of good humor, good will and generosity. I’d like it to be said that we had a lot of laughs, we extended a lot of kindness, and we built an abundant storehouse of heart-and-soul resources that anyone can draw on. I can’t imagine a better legacy than that."

Parker J. Palmer (source)

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Blessing the Chaos

To all that is chaotic in you, let there come silence. Let there be a calming of the clamoring, a stilling of the voices that have laid their claim on you, that have made their home in you, that go with you even to the holy places but will not let you rest, will not let you hear your life with wholeness or feel the grace that fashioned you. Let what distracts you cease. Let what divides you cease. Let there come an end to what diminishes and demeans, and let depart all that keeps you in its cage. Let there be an opening into the quiet that lies beneath the chaos, where you find the peace you did not think possible and see what shimmers within the storm. —Jan L. Richardson, "Blessing in the Chaos"

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Resources via @theblackoutofficial

Donate/Boost/Sign:

Minneapolis Freedom Bail Fund & Louisville Community Bail Fund

Reclaim the Block

Black Visions Collective

The Official GoFundMe of George Floyd’s Family

Official Petition for Breonna Taylor

Justice for Regis Official Fund

Tony McDade’s Memorial Fund

Black Lives Matter Network

Mental Health Resources:

Ethel’s Club - Black-owned and operated social club offering access to Black therapists and a multitude of creative events for People of Color.

Crisis Text Line - A different approach to crisis intervention, Crisis Text Line offers you help when you text 741-741. You’ll be able to chat with someone who is willing to listen and provide you with additional resources.

Shine Text. – Black-owned! Sign up to receive cheerful texts and tips every day.

Therapy For Black Girls - A Black-owned a directory to help you find Black therapists in your area.

Tips for Organizing/Protesting:

Knowing your rights - ACLU

How To Prepare for a Protest. (Remember to wear a mask in or to protect yourself!)

A Twitter thread of suggested readings

Fun Online Communities and Things to Do:

Some of our favorite online communities.

Nerd Culture: @blacknerdproblems, @superheroesincolor

Poetry and Literary Spaces: Cave Canem Literary Balms program for Black poets,  Nuyorician Online Open Mic Events, Well-Read Black Girl

Podcasts: Therapy For Black Girls, Strong Black Legends by Netflix’s Strong Black Lead, The Read with Crissle and Kid Fury.

Hobbies: #BlackBirdersWeek by BlackAFinSTEM (5/31 - 6/8), Wellness Week by Black Girl Gamers.

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AFTER MY FRIEND PHYLLIS SHOWS ME THE NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARY HEADLINE: ‘LOU MICHAELS, ALL-PURPOSE PLAYER, DIES AT 80, MISSED KICKS IN ’69 SUPER BOWL’

When I die, let them write about all the mistakes I’ve made. Let them mention in the headlines how many rejection letters I’ve received from The Sun. Let them say, “Missed her calling for Broadway back in 1987.” Let them say, “She trained hard, but never won a Nordic skate race.” They can note how my children fought in front of company. How every chocolate cake I made sank in the center. How the beets in my garden were never bigger than golf balls. How I never even watched the Super Bowl, much less knew who played for the Colts back in 1969 while I was still forming in my mother’s womb and Lou Michaels missed two field goals that helped the Jets win. What do any of us really accomplish? My friend Wayne says, “We do what we can and have mercy.” Yes, let them say I did what I could. Let them say that I loved the best I knew how and messed that up, too. It’s what we do, we who are kicking our way to the back pages of the paper. Well-intentioned and foundering, faithful and confused as we are, we mess up. Yes, mercy on us, mercy on all our failing little hearts, how they beat so sincerely, mercy on this longing to shine, this reminder again to kneel.

-- Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

 via A. Good

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"The soul is like a wild animal—tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is to go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek."

- Parker Palmer (via J. Mcrae)

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Understanding scale....