Hi friends,
How is your weekend so far? Personally I'm still feeling quite gutted from yesterday's Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v Wade. A lot of us are disappointed but not shocked, and that only adds to the disappointment, doesn't it? It's tiring and frustrating to feel powerless in matters as large as this. Abortion is healthcare and stripping our country of this right is devastating.
A few years ago I found myself in the darkest depression of my life. I couldn't eat or move or find the light in anything. I tell you this not to center anything around myself but to share with you how I clawed my way out of that seemingly bottomless pit, and hopefully find some light in our current state. Every day I found three things to be thankful for. It could be a favorite song, a hot shower, a good cup of tea. Eventually there were bigger things: the fact that I was able to leave the house and drive to the grocery, the ability to pick work up again, the gratitude for the body that carried me around this earth. Eventually life carried on and I made my lists a little less frequently, a little less out of necessity. The gratitude list still helps ground me in stressful times and I find myself returning to the practice when things get crazy. Things feel pretty crazy right now, wouldn't you say?
Today on my drive to the shop I was working on my mental list. I had the phrase "things will get worse before they get better" reverberating in my mind. I was thinking about the fate of marriage equality, wondering what shoe will drop next... It's all so very much right now but as a means of mental survival I have to choose hope and gratitude above despair. You may be saying "Gratitude?? What the %*!* is wrong with you??" I invite you to try your hand at this practice. Today I am thankful for groups doing the work to help those in need; the organizations leading the fight; the journalists sharing the stories that need to be heard... I am thankful to share a sliver of light with you and offer support where I think it's needed in the form of a monetary donation. Let's breathe, center ourselves, then fight.
With love. With gratitude.
Alicia
Three links to share:
Rally for Reproductive Freedom, Sunday June 26 in Austin
Donate to the Lilith Fund
Find an Abortion Database from NY Magazine