Resist

For Those Who Would Govern
First question: Can you first govern yourself?
Second question: What is the state of your own household?
Third question: Do you have a proven record of community service and compassionate acts?
Fourth question: Do you know the history and laws of your principalities?
Fifth question: Do you follow sound principles? Look for fresh vision to lift all the inhabitants of the land, including animals, plants, elements, all who share this earth?
Sixth question: Are you owned by lawyers, bankers, insurance agents, lobbyists, or other politicians, anyone else who would unfairly profit by your decisions?
Seventh question: Do you have authority by the original keepers of the lands, those who obey natural law and are in the service of the lands on which you stand?
~ Joy Harjo, An American Sunrise

Preach it, Joy Harjo.

I’m just wondering aloud, but HOW IS IT, pray tell, that we have found ourselves with a president in these United States who cannot answer a single one of these questions in an even remotely acceptable fashion? Not. A. One.

I know that this is a bar far higher than many presidents can vault over, but not a single question?

We’re in dark times, people. All that America stands for is in jeopardy. All the people of America stand in jeopardy, many of them cheering on the steamroller that’s headed directly for them. We are in danger of collapse, driven from the top right into the ground. I am fearful; I’m not going to lie.

I’ve been trying to figure out what I can do. What I can say to my kids and grandkids when they ask what I did when the Hitler of the western hemisphere was unfurling his army of hatred and greed. You know this. You’ve been tagging along as I’ve been floundering along, trying to find my way.

I still don’t have a lot of answers, but the ones I do have seem to be helpful to some folks to hear, so I’ll keep you updated. Just in case there’s something new in there to spur ya’ on.

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work;
and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
~ Wendell Berry, The Real Work

I’m doing All The Things to take care of myself and stay sane. Doubling down on all the things, actually. Exercising, meditating, eating well. Walking, breathing deep, staring at rivers and trees and wooly bears. I only take in a few minutes of the endless updates on the state of the lunatic and his minions. Just enough to know what my rant will be when I call my Congressmen that day.

Nice segue: I’m calling my Congressmen (and women–the woman is the only sane one we’ve got here in Wisco) every day. Several times a day if I have the wherewithal. That poor kid at Van Orden’s office is really getting sick of my voice. Have I suggested 5calls.org yet?

I’M VOTING on April 1st!!! If you’re in Wisconsin, you’d better be too. As goes Wisconsin, so goes the nation. This is a big one, folks. Get out there and do the thing. Early voting started Wednesday.

I enlisted that child timer thing on my phone and I get exactly 12 minutes of social media per day before I’m shut off. Just enough to find the stuff that makes me happy. Just enough to share a little of it on down the line. That is all. This has made a huge difference in the sanity quotient. I was going to go cold turkey for Lent, cuz things were getting a little rough in the scrolling arena, but I didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and the problem wasn’t really my well-curated Instagram feed but my rather keen ability to fall into the abyss. Training wheels. Problem solved.

I’m spending lots of time in my safe place of hermitude, but also getting out there to see my peeps. We’re having real conversations. I’m trying to support whoever happens to be in front of me, doing my best to be intentional with my presence. Smiles. Love. Hope. Laughter. Solidarity. I’m sure I still pass through in a stuporous haze on the regular, but I’m trying to be fully awake for my time with others. I do think that you+me, community, is the only way through this mess.

I’m writing here, which is a big part of my clinging to sanity, as well as my efforts to hold out a hand and lift one another up. Yay us!

I’m reading good books and learning good things.

I’m digging in and learning a little bit more about the foundations of our government and how it’s supposed to be working. You know, trying to get beyond what I learned from Schoolhouse Rock. So far, no surprises. This is NOT how it’s supposed to be working, in case you were wondering.

I’m phone banking tonight 🤪, whatever that means. I’ll find out in a couple of hours. Pretty sure I’m just gonna be that person calling you to beg you to get out and vote for a better Wisconsin and a better America. Works for me.

I might go knocking on doors with the friendly neighborhood Dems 😬. We’ll see how phone banking goes.

*Nic Zapko signs her way through the Town Hall*

I got up my gumption and went out Wednesday night to see my man Tim, holding Town Hall meetings in places like Eau Claire where our representatives are holed up, refusing to face their constituents (he-hem… Derrick Van Orden).

(Oh, and I’m learning ASL, because not everyone can hear like I can, bat that I am. One of my dearest friends is losing her hearing, and I want her to forever be able to understand me when I rant. Also, my godchildren now know a language I don’t, and that can’t fly. And also, because Nic Zapko is the bomb, and who wouldn’t want to be like her?)

I love me some Tim.

He said a lot of stuff. I was glad I went. One of the things that hit home for ME though, was:

“The road to authoritarianism is littered with people telling you you’re overreacting. You’re not overreacting.”
~ Tim Walz, The People Vs. Musk Town Hall (March 18, 2025)

Because these days you don’t have to go far to find someone who can make you feel like you might be taking it all a bit too seriously. They speak in measured tones and say it’s not really that bad, that we have checks and balances and one man can’t really do that much damage, and you almost believe them. You almost think you might be getting all worked up over nothing.

We are not taking this too seriously, folks. We’re on a road to places we do not want to be, and it’s crumbling behind us. Our children and our neighbors and the world need us to stand up to what’s happening up there in the halls of the rich white guys. Our vulnerable need us to stand up to the bullies who are on the attack. Our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids deserve to have an America left to live in.

*“Do your little bit of good where you are: It’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~ Desmond Tutu*

We Must Do Something. We. Must. Do. Something.

I may not be able to do a lot.

I may not be able to do as much as you.

But every little bit counts, and the more little bits we all create, the greater the tapestry of love we weave, the more healing we can bring to this broken, battered world.

We can make a difference.

It’s time to love louder.
To Love Louder.
TO LOVE LOUDER.