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I was inspired to write today because this eclipse feels like a much needed opportunity to reckon with ourselves. The world is on fire and we keep doing the same shit over and over and over again. This eclipse is here to shake things up and shatter the delusions that have shaped our reality for too long.

What would it look like if we - western society - finally did the shadow work of decolonizing, dismantling white supremacy, destroying the patriarchy, divesting from capitalism, detoxing from ableism? What if we - all of us - looked deep inside ourselves to interrogate the ways we have internalized the logic of dominance, how it has shaped us into soldiers of supremacy and how it has held us back from ourselves and each other?

It’s time to stop living from our wounded selves and start healing. It means growing up and taking responsibility for our part in this mess.

This eclipse is presenting us with a critical choice point:

Will we continue to be complicit in the vicious cycle of dominance and harm?

OR will we choose something different and move towards the the unknown realm of unconditional love and liberation?

May this eclipse reveal whatever is needed to set us all free.

Kerri she/her

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NTK (need to know)

• Those mobilising against the Israeli genocide face exhaustion and burnout. This is the result of Israel’s ‘war of attrition’. Palestinians and the world must not lose hope.

• The administration seems to think that Democratic voters are idiots who can’t tell the difference between rhetorically repackaging a policy and stopping the policy. Primary voters in swing states are putting Biden on notice (and building power).

• When we learn about crime we’re told to focus on the robbery, but never on why someone might turn to theft. It’s always the actions of an individual that we’re told to judge, and never their circumstances, or the system they live under, or the policies that have shaped their life. Who decides what violence is?

• Our survival on this planet depends on creating nimble responses to accelerating scales, scopes, and speeds of change. By creating containers for collective imagination of what the future can bring, speculative futures helps us create those responses together. What If The Best Times Are Still To Come?

• What our movements get right, what they get wrong, why they must learn to celebrate their own victories and grow more inclusive, how we should think and talk about America as a country, and so much more. Rebecca Solnit wants a joyous, inviting left — not an angry, Puritanical one

Solidarity

This week we are reaching beyond trans visibility into action. Visibility is essential but does not ensure safety for trans people in an increasingly hostile environment. In 2024 alone, 479 anti-LGTBQ bills have been introduced across the country. What is needed is for all of us to take actions towards a future for trans people. Chase Strangio, trans lawyer and activist, says “to *see* us means recognizing that static notions of power, embodiment and desire can never capture human experience; to celebrate us means recognizing that which is deemed immutable is in fact contingent; and to love is us is to realize that our stories (like all stories) are ever in process, always uncertain, necessarily subjective, and deeply beautiful. No amount of violence can reduce us to something as inadequate as a coherent legal subject. We are so much more. Shapeshifting, invisible, deviant, defiant, I love us.” Here’s how you can show up and take action:

USE AFFIRMATIVE LANGUAGE: “Language can harm or heal, create oppression or liberation. The choice is ours.” Check out Alex Kapitan’s Radical Copywriter blog for best practices for how to talk about trans liberation.

FIGHT ANTI-TRANS BILLS: Contact state legislators and governors in states where anti-trans laws are on the table. Check out this tracker to to know what is happening where you live.

SUPPORT TRANS GROUPS ON THE GROUND: Follwo the people who know the way. One of the best things you can do is donate to local groups that help trans people in states across the country. Here’s a useful list of some other groups and organizations that could use your help in states where anti-trans bills are law or are close to becoming law.

Art by Fox Fisher

Digging Deeper

Eclipse season is when times starts to blur. The past converges with the present making new futures possible. The moon represents the subconscious - memories, intuition, past lives - while the sun represents the conscious - present, sight, clarity. When the moon covers up the sun, our shadows come forth and demand to be seen, heard and felt. While this can be an uncomfortable process, it sets us free from the binds that have been holding us back. This eclipse is inviting us to ask hard questions of ourselves and each other. Here are some questions to guide your eclipse journey today and beyond:

• What shadow elements (historical or present) are blocking your growth and vision?

• What lessons can you learn from past mistakes/experiences ?

• What are the messages you are receiving that can point the way forward?

• How can you nourish this transition?

• What does it look like to do something different?

Art and words by Medicine Mami

We-ness

Everything is bad…but the moon and the sun and the stars!

Art by Tracy Rector Art

Spring is a time for purification, renewal and birth. Join Kerri Kelly for a powerful home retreat to cleanse the body, clear the mind and catalyze change. Throughout 7 days, we will embark on a transformative process of mind-body purification using the chakra system as a guide to expose the places where we are stuck so that we can discover new capacities for change and creativity. Together, we will move through an experience of grounding and detoxification, reflection and reconciliation, creativity and manifestation as we make the journey from where we are coming from and where we are going. Our journey will include daily customized practice, journaling assignment, LIVE community coaching and tools for transformation and daily self care rituals. It will be a powerful and nourishing experience that will soothe your soul and seed your highest intention. Sliding scale. Register HERE.

Thanks for subscribing to WELLREAD. For the last six years we’ve been providing folks with the need to know (NTK) news, calls to actions and resources for how to stay engaged and resourced along the way. But now, we’ve added an option to “upgrade to paid” to help sustain our work. While we will never put our content behind a pay wall, we depend on the support of our community to keep us going. 💛

Upgrade to paid