This is what happens when you don't sleep and instead you wander the halls 'till the wee hours of the morning in your grandmother's nightgown.

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It’s one of those days.

Up all night, fretting about the upcoming election and the madness of this world.

The hatred and the greed that is permeating the media outlets has my wires all tangled.

I can’t seem to feel my feet on the earth, or locate my breath.

All this talk of moving out of the country if “so and so” becomes President  — good god, please tell me that this will not, and cannot happen.

But if “so and so” does become President, heaven forbid, I don’t want to move.

I love it here.

I love this little life I am carving out for myself.

Right here at home, with you.

And also, don’t we need to stay anyway, to fight the good fight?

To keep telling the truth?

To keep showing up?

To keep the conversation honest?

Remember when I talked about this “deeper current” in last week’s newsletter that my friend Kim mentioned in terms of creativity? 

Maybe it’s the same thing with these “world power structures” as well.

Maybe there is some deeper current I need to follow that goes beyond Facebook, talk radio, and all the nasty exchanges that are actually not exchanges at all, and instead are just shame and blame. 

I am embarrassed to admit it,  but I have been part of those nasty exchanges. 

I have shamed and blamed, out of sheer frustration and inability to honestly communicate about heated and complicated issues that can rip families - and nations - apart.

I guess that is what I am wondering about this morning, after a night of wondering through the house and imagining the worst, not being able to get the image out of my head about a certain potential future president:

  • How do I stay centered and sane so I can follow the deeper current.
  • How do I follow the truth.
  • How do I keep showing up.

Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to be living the life I am living in a place where what I was doing:

Speaking as truthfully as I can

Questioning those in power

Living the life I want to be living

Having agency over how I spent my time

Choosing what foods to eat, books to read, newspapers to purchase, radio stations to listen to, art exhibits to see, dances to dance, gods to pray to…

was not allowed and had to be kept secret.

Would I have the courage to keep doing what I am doing now?

Would I shrink?

Would I stop dancing?

Would you?

This is a rant is a rant is a rant, and I don’t know what I am saying after two nights of wandering the halls in my pajamas.

All I know is that I hope that whatever happens, whatever transpires over the course of our time here on this earth, that we will keep dancing.

That we will not shrink.

That we will show up.

That we will feed and shelter each other.

That we will gather.

That we will build the fires, sing the songs, and dance the dances we are meant to dance.

“Movement is born of life’s breath. Don’t be shackled by conventions; just let go of yourself… You’re free to move as you wish.  What I want to see, though, is a dance in which you give birth to what’s alive inside of you.”

Kazuo Ohno

Your dance mission for the week is to:

  • Lie down on the floor.
  • Notice your breath.
  • Be curious about where you feel your breath in your body.
  • Imagine that all of your cells are breathing, because in a certain sense, they are.
  • Also imagine that you have little lungs in the palms of your hands, and that your hands are breathing too.

Wait

&

Wait

&

Wait

until you fall into whatever dance is in the room with you today, patiently waiting for you to begin.

You know I love hearing your thoughts about these rants, so post a comment, an idea, a dream, or a memory here.

And if you like what you just read, would you share it with a member of your family?

A distant cousin who you haven’t heard from in awhile, or maybe your Great Aunt Edith, who loved to go out dancing on a Saturday night.

With Warmth and Jivey Vibes,

Joanna

of

Joanna and The Agitators

sweetly agitating/persistently upending

HUGE PS!

I almost forgot!

The last performance of GOODNIGHT, COURTNEY LOVE happens this Saturday, Feb 27th at 7pm at The North Boulder Recreation Center.

I hope to see you there!

xoxo

jo