This helps me drop into a deeper layer about the connection between white supremacy and CONTROL. Control is a delusion (all the Buddhists tell us so, and I think they're right), but it's so seductive no matter who you are, and especially when you know deep down you've been living in a matrix of inequity that you've benefitted from. Control is a form of denial. White denial. Thank you for giving us your gifts, Bucks.
So, so seductive. And so, so scary to give up. I think that's why I can't stop thinking of those cars on the highway-- it floods the part of my brain that are normally filled with fears (acknowledged or unacknowledge) with imagination instead.
Ensuring that we can better understand each other is a gift for the world :). As somebody who needs a copy editor, there's a gift there that isn't just about managing and controlling :)
I think the metaphor of roads is particularly useful to a White person like myself who sometimes gets lost in how to do small things that reduce harm in the face of such enormous capital H, Harm. The taking the next little step towards togetherness, rejecting privilege, repair.
This was so much what I needed to read today. I've been thinking a lot about how easy it would be to stay comfortable when the society around you is structured and bent to enable your comfort and sense of security, however false.
My spouse and I got our vaccines from the Blackfeet Nation back in April and were, and are, so deeply grateful.
I thought of you as I wrote this piece, Nia! I don't know how to fully describe to folks who aren't from Northern and Northwestern Montana the layers that make this whole situation so wonderful.
This helps me drop into a deeper layer about the connection between white supremacy and CONTROL. Control is a delusion (all the Buddhists tell us so, and I think they're right), but it's so seductive no matter who you are, and especially when you know deep down you've been living in a matrix of inequity that you've benefitted from. Control is a form of denial. White denial. Thank you for giving us your gifts, Bucks.
So, so seductive. And so, so scary to give up. I think that's why I can't stop thinking of those cars on the highway-- it floods the part of my brain that are normally filled with fears (acknowledged or unacknowledge) with imagination instead.
What a great observation. Control is maybe the ultimate denial? (OMG I'm a copy editor -- what does this say about me?!)
Ensuring that we can better understand each other is a gift for the world :). As somebody who needs a copy editor, there's a gift there that isn't just about managing and controlling :)
Ah, well, you always seem to have the best words right on your own :)
This is so good, Garrett!!! Standing up at my kitchen table to give you the standing ovation. (Lynnell)
Thank you Lynnell!
I think the metaphor of roads is particularly useful to a White person like myself who sometimes gets lost in how to do small things that reduce harm in the face of such enormous capital H, Harm. The taking the next little step towards togetherness, rejecting privilege, repair.
Oh that's such a good point, and I didn't even think of it when I started playing with the road metaphor.
This was so much what I needed to read today. I've been thinking a lot about how easy it would be to stay comfortable when the society around you is structured and bent to enable your comfort and sense of security, however false.
My spouse and I got our vaccines from the Blackfeet Nation back in April and were, and are, so deeply grateful.
I thought of you as I wrote this piece, Nia! I don't know how to fully describe to folks who aren't from Northern and Northwestern Montana the layers that make this whole situation so wonderful.
With all the layers of really bad and so, so good, maybe "wondrous" is the word. That photo of cars lined up at the Canadian border was just ... 😭💕