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I’m grounding in the teaching and wisdom of Roshi Norma Wong who just wrote a book called When No Thing Works, A Zen and Indigeneous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse. And so much of what many of us are grappling with in this moment is written about in this book - how do we cultivate resilience for uncertain futures and live into an emergent worldview that feels enticingly beyond our reach?

One of the things she shares in this amazing episode of End of the World Podcast with adrienne maree brown and Autumn Brown is this:

All freedom only exists in our collective self. We will not survive long in our individual freedom.

It is the practice of being with, resourcing with, caring with, imagining with, story with, creating with, moving with that will lead us in the direction of collective freedom and survival. That’s it. That’s the entire strategy.

So for the next few weeks, as we wind down this year and ready ourselves for what’s next, we’re exploring the practice of togethering and how we move together in mutual care and action (see below).

Kerri (she/her)

NTK (need to know)

• Liberal democracy’s assumption that political parties must compete for votes in the same way that businesses compete for customers is a dangerous trap. It reduces voting to a mere transactional choice and erases the participatory vision of self-governance

• The wealth of the world’s very richest people — a list dominated by U.S. billionaires, many of whom backed President-elect Donald Trump — has soared to record levels since the election. Trump’s win represents the long triumph of a bipartisan embrace of oligarchy over our politics — and the ultra-rich are about to get even richer

• The desire to turn inward is understandable, and human. It’s a form of self-protection. It’s also a delusion. You may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you. A new approach is necessary if America is to avoid the fate that befell so many Russians. Don’t Let Donald Trump Drive You Into Internal Exile.

• What does it mean to live in a world organized around greed and violence that then asks us to adjust ourselves to better endure its harms? Rehearsing the Future: A festival of healing justice models how we practice revolutionary care and liberation.

• It absolutely is a matter of survival to find your people, to build connections with organizations and organizers, to know who has your back. Interdependence is a Survival Skill, But Shouldn’t Feel Like Building a Bunker

COLLECTIVE CARE

You cannot cover up genocide with gratitude. Thanks-taking is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native Americans, the theft of their lands and the relentless assault on their culture. When we reframe this holiday as a time for “giving thanks” we whitewash and erase the violent history (and present) of settler colonialism and the lived experiences of Indigenous people on this land. We honor history by telling the truth and taking action. Here are some ways to start:

There is no “decolonizing thanksgiving”. When a holiday’s origins are rooted in colonial violence, genocide and the erasure of Indigenous peoples, that history cannot simply be rewritten with symbolic land acknowledgement and gratitude rituals. Honor National Day of Mourning by listening to indigenous voices, supporting land back initiatives, paying a Shuumi tax and rejecting the Thanksgiving myth.

Beyond Black Friday. November 29th is International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian people. One way you can support is through economic divestment by opting out of consumerism or shopping at small local businesses. By doing this we not only influence the broader economy but strengthen our networks of local and mutual support.

Have Hard conversations at the dinner table. With so much on the line, politics is unavoidable at the holiday table. Here is some good advice about how to approach the holidays with people you deeply disagree with.

Art by @xipi.teca

DIGGING DEEPER

Zen master and Indigenous Hawaiian leader Rōshi Norma Wong’s knows how to hold this collective moment with gravity and tender care. When No Thing Works is a visionary guide to co-creating new worlds from one in crisis. It asks into the ways we can live well and maintain our wholeness in an era of collective acceleration: the swiftly moving current, fed and shaped by human actions, that sweeps us toward ever uncertain futures. Grounded in Zen Buddhism, interconnection, and decades of community activism, When No Thing Works explores questions like:

• As we stand at a threshold of collective change, what leaps must we make?

• How can we push through discord and polarization and meet these critical changepoints collectively?

• What practices, strategies, and spiritualities can align to vision a sustainable future for our communities and descendents?

• How can we step out of urgency to tend to our crises with wisdom, intention, and care? 

Please get this essential book 💛

While we may not know what to do next, we know that we must do it together. Over the next few weeks we are coming together to explore the practice of togethering and what it means to build community, get organized and care for each other. Register here.

WE-NESS

Return to the sacred.

Art by @brandoncollingsworth

Thanks for subscribing to WELLREAD. For the last several 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