Wise Women

We are traveling in beautiful Montana (special election May 25th) for a couple weeks of work and I’ve been wondering how I would manage to write this on the road – away from home, routine, resources, comfort.  But the news has somehow accompanied us and frankly we’ve been more addicted to it than we are at home.  The other day we were driving from Whitefish to Kalispell listening to talk radio and the host as well as his callers were saying about Democrats the very same things that I’ve heard Democrats say about Republicans.  It made us pause.  And, brought to mind this beautiful poem.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense.

Rumi

I am amazed by the fortitude, vision, clarity, grit, organizational brilliance, creativity and stamina shown by so many women who, since November have been on the forefront of the resistance. So, in honor of them and our sisters who came before and whose shoulders we stand on now (and because it was just Mother’s Day) I hope you will find something in this collection of quotes, photos, articles and resources by and about women to give you some strength, perspective, inspiration and maybe a laugh to carry on. (I have referenced three men – Rumi, Confucius and Stephen Colbert…but their offerings felt right to me!)
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Women gathered on Westminster Bridge after terrorist attack in London
 “A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.” Maya Angelou

PIssYouOff

“It is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.” Mary Oliver
Dorothy Day

 Ideas Information Action

Do you know about Emily’s List? They are working hard to get pro-choice Democratic women elected to office.  Check out their candidates and see how to get involved!

And, Amy Siskind, who’s been keeping weekly list—a catalogue of small and large ways the Trump administration is acting beyond the pale and counter to the norms of a democratic society.

I LOVE this collection of tweets/photos of Sally Yates from the Huffington Post after her testimony before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. #SallyYates (My favorite is from Stephen Colbert: “Wonder Woman is in theaters June 2nd. But if you want a sneak preview, watch Sally Yates’ performance in front of the Senate.”

Check out the four women behind Sister District and consider joining a local district team.

Deep and challenging read from The New York Review of Books by Masha Gessen on the importance of how we use and abuse language in the Trump era.  In it she quotes Confucius who said:

If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.

WhatDoIDoAboutTrump.com – resistance resources to Get Involved, Take Action, Make a Plan, Inspire Friends and Protect Yourself.  Keep handy and revisit.

 And finally,

I love this visual, I love this story.  I want to be a Cholita (or at least my version whatever that may be.) Here’s to women everywhere – givers of life –  as we scale mountains (in skirts or not) – lift up our arms (in praise, in defiance, in joy) – and find new ways to care for ourselves, each other and the planet.

Here’s to you, here’s to us – all in it together.