In This Muddy World, We Can Be the Lotus.

"No Mud, No Lotus" - Thich Nhat Hanh

Dear friends,

I just love this saying by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. I love having this clear and simple reminder that often, what feels like nothing but misery, is actually the nutrient required for joy to blossom. I refer to this saying (along with "I can do hard things") to get me through all the stuff that feels impossible. Of course, in my ideal world, we wouldn't have to face hard things at all, and the lotus would not require mud in order to produce beautiful blossoms, but obviously, we aren't at this stage of evolution just yet.

As much as I love this Thich Nhat Hanh quote, I also struggle with it as, in the privileged microcosm of my own life, I have been served a great deal more lotuses than mudbanks. As an older, middle-class, white woman who lives in one of the most progressive cities in one of the most progressive provinces in Canada, it feels kinda flippant to basically say, "Oh well! We just have to suffer a few losses for the good stuff to show up" when so many people are constantly under attack. I am not personally experiencing the ick of the mud of our current moment, but I am watching it rise and ooze all around me, and it's causing chaos and pain for so many who do not share the privileges that protect me. Mud happens, but I believe it is my job as a person privileged with a relatively mud-free existence to lend a hand to help those who are mired in it. The knowledge that mud happens and lotuses will also happen does not give us the luxury of sitting back and waiting for the beautiful blossoms to appear while our neighbours are drowning in shit. I believe that it is our responsibility to use our positions of privilege to do whatever we can to protect those who are suffering, to be the blossoms where there is mud, to create blossoms for all.

Sharing the burden, sharing the joy.

Those of us who are being called upon to help those who are under attack have our work cut out for us these days, and it can all feel like way too much to handle. But, as Pooh said (or was it Piglet?), "It's so much friendlier with two." and I'm not here to argue that wee nugget of wisdom. We are carrying a heavy burden, but it grows lighter when we share it with others.

One of my tricks for maintaining stamina in this marathon fight against injustice is recognizing my strengths, and admitting my weaknesses, and then finding people to collaborate with whose own strengths and weaknesses complement my own, making less work and greater unity for all involved. This means I can use my superpowers (letter-writing and schmoozing) fully and not waste time or energy struggling with the shit I'm not very good at (so much!). It makes what feels insurmountable completely surmountable.

On collaboration.

The other day I was walking with my friend Diane and I told her a story about how an advocacy group I'm part of worked together to produce this letter to the editor of our local paper, rebuking a suburban kvetcher who suggested homelessness & addiction are strictly a Victoria issue (as if!) and can/should be magicked away by law enforcement (sigh). Diane seemed to find my little tale of collaboration inspirational and suggested that I should write about it for this week's newsletter. So, here you go!

We're just a small group made up of a few concerned citizens and a few engaged city councillors, doing what we can to support humane, sustainable care for our unhoused neighbours. We have recently conceived an action plan that uses our combined individual strengths to call out shit like the cruelty and ignorance spouted by Mr. Suburbia, while advocating for actual solutions to homelessness in our community (I'm a big fan of tiny home villages and have been lobbying my politicians for them).

The action plan goes like this:

1) A few members of the group who regularly read the newspapers share articles and opinion pieces that should be addressed.

2) The city councillors provide behind-the-scenes intel and talking points.

3) I use the input from the others to write the letters to the editor, hopefully drowning out the hateful/harmful letter we are addressing.

4) We take turns submitting them to increase the chances of our letters getting published.

5) We all celebrate when the letter gets published, loudly countering dangerous disinformation.

Our collective efforts will not end homelessness, but our voices are an important piece of the fight against idiocy, and towards demanding real solutions. And, it's easier to make our voices heard when we all contribute to the process.

When unexpected collaboration turns wildly successful.

Of course, we're seeing incredible examples of collaboration everywhere, bringing moments of joy in tough times. Collaboration that might not have happened if things weren't so shitty for so many (no mud, no lotus). As someone who is passionate about feeding people, Josh from Portland-based Heretic Coffee Co has become a personal hero of mine, and the collaborative nature of this story fills me with so much joy. As the owner of Heretic Coffee Co, Josh has provided the facility, the food, and the commitment to care for his community by offering free breakfast to those who were losing their SNAP payments during the government shutdown. Others who had funds to spare, covered the cost of the free breakfasts with monetary donations. In fact, the financial contributions have been so overwhelmingly generous ($361,000 last count!), Josh is now looking at more ways to expand the support for his hungry community beyond free breakfasts at his coffee shop. Josh understands how humanity works:

“(W)hen the system fails us, it’s up to us to [take] care of each other. And the world (yes, literally, the world) has done just that.” 

Also:

“We responded [to the skeptics] with ‘Much rather go bankrupt feeding our people than selling coffee while other families starve’ and we stand by that comment,”

Josh - I couldn't agree more! And for every fistful of mud being thrown at us, our inner lotuses are blossoming in the form of community care.

Mud? Lotus? The choice is ours.

Not as in, "Do I want more mud in my life, or more lotuses?", but as in "Do I want to be the mud or the lotus in this world?" The news tries to convince us that the world is oozing with assholes doing unthinkable harm to others (and I'm not denying that this is partially true), but, then we see gems like Josh doing the good we all crave so deeply. And these gems, these lotus blossoms, are absolutely everywhere, rising up to the challenges of our times, rising up as a result of the challenges of our times. As Pooh said (or was it Piglet?) "It's so much friendlier with two" (or three, or five, or 7 million). We know this to be true because when we work collaboratively, we lighten each other's load by adding our strengths to the efforts. When we work together, we share the burden and we share the joy. We lift each other up. We inspire each other. We remind ourselves and each other that we are not alone. We remind ourselves and each other that there are far more of us choosing to be lotus blossoms than shitty piles of mud. We remind ourselves and each other that, yeah, mud is all around us, but we are choosing to be the blossoms. Every day we are being offered the choice of who and how we want to be in this world. We must choose to be the ones who bring beauty with acts of kindness and generosity and solidarity and love.

I hope you will enjoy and find inspiration from this bouquet of mixed blossoms.

With love - Jessica

p.s. - Want an easy way to do some good in the world this week?

1) Boycott the hell out of union-busting Starbucks and go support your local, independent coffee shops.

2) Boycott the hell out of Spotify too! Among numerous other sketchy business practices, they are also running ICE recruitment ads, and we need to let them know that this totally sucks by withdrawing our support.