Everything is a human being-- a la Alice Walker

.....even spiders

From Alice Walker dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr, 1983 

And,  it comes to me as I follow her reasoning THAT I believe we should be allowed to declare  war only against people whose language we speak and whose culture we understand.  In fact I am quite sure that if we had a Ministry or Department of Old Women (aka Crones) in our political system that they would over-rule a war between strangers as  irrational and self-destructive.  If we do not know people well enough to skillfully befriend them then neither do we know them well enough to hate them.  The opposite of love is not hatred but indifference; whereas the source of most hate is fear born of ignorance (and unfamiliarity).    Moreover, the chances of winning a war are significantly reduced if we do not take the time to know who we are fighting and why they are fighting back.  Remarkably, knowing people well enough to wage war against them effectively also exactly what protects us from ever starting a war against each other. 

I am shaking my head that so few Americans speak Dari or Pashtu and I think wishfully about a Ministry of Crones. So it is to Alice Walker that I return (certainly she would be in the Ministry) but this time on the topic of war.  In her essay "The Universe Responds: Or, How I learned we can have Peace on Earth," she says,

"War will stop when we no longer praise it, or give it any attention at all. 

Peace will come wherever it is sincerely invited. Love will overflow every sanctuary given it. Truth will grow where the fertilizer that nourishes it is also truth".

How difficult for us to do.... 
Meanwhile, everything is human, yes, my lovely daughter, Natalya, even spiders, or if not exactly human they are enough "us" to be worthy of our respect and far beyond our capacity to imitate - or create. They are weavers and spinners and since time out of mind there have been stories woven with spiders-- remember Arachne? 

Here -- to all the lovely forms of existence-- we dedicate these images to our many legged spinning friends that live life on their toes & up in the air like members of cirque du soleil.

Spiders: Artistry and competency - Story by Sharon McDonnell

Our voices our stories: Abortion

 

First Person: Your Voices, Your Stories

“I wish we could offer each other the kindness of respectful listening.”

In 2008 the radio program "On Being" (formerly "Speaking of Faith") asked listeners to write to them about the topic of abortion.   I was moved to respond and now they are updating and re-airing the program they have selected among the comments offered, and mine was posted on their main page.  Check it out.

Our voices: About abortion and how we talk to each other

Moreover, not long ago, Jane Flink sent me this story as part of a conversation we had on the topic of abortion.  One of the wonderful things about it was that I had no idea what her opinion was and so I had to listen carefully and open my mind.  Another wonderful thing is that the story is full of forgiveness.  That is always a good thing when important issues are being discussed.  So, I include a link to her short story.  It is excellent and its is called "God has a good idea"

God has a good idea: Many voices of women

I believe that we must move the topic of abortion back into dialogue, particularly among women of all ages and tell each other our stories and what is in our hearts.  It is a topic so laden with emotional meaning  and political significance that it has become unspeakable.  This sense of danger is often a sign that an issue has become wholly symbolic and is no longer connected to real peoples' lives.  Reductionism has occurred and this is a great pity because polling from many sources show that almost 80% of people agree while only 20% of people are in conflict. This is where the media and our fear of conflict collide to make a difficult situation worse.  I think there is more agreement and forgiveness than we know.

Sharon

Girl Math: Try this a word problem for your heart and frontal lobes

Watch this! A short clip from by William Ury the masterful negotiator and
peacemaker from a recent TED talk. It features a word problem using "Girl Math"
It is a story about transformation


Finding the 18th camel.
In this story the wise woman elder takes the long view and
by cleverly using math and intuition she creates
surprising and practical Magic
Magic that heals and in some cases
may cause laughter and a heart full of breath

This is what we hope to do and to encourage in our work via
Mother-Daughter Press

Sorry for the need to re-post. All the linking pieces didn't... but, hopefully I have a better sense of the process. Please let me know if what comes doesn't work

Sharon

China & a view of overpriced appliances that do what the sun does anyway

 Wash and Fly.... no need to dry: 

A demonstration of energy efficiency by 

the American field sparrow

This from author Sharon Astyks's science blog called  Casaubon's Book is a vignette I shall call-- Dryers and China

 "As increasingly affluent Chinese embrace all the accouterments of the modern, middle-class Western lifestyle -- big-screen televisions, automobiles, washing machines, double-door refrigerators with automatic icemakers -- one glaring exception stands out: the clothes dryer.
For reasons practical as well as cultural, most Chinese consumers simply don't like clothes dryers. Don't want them. Don't trust them. Won't buy them. And, even when they have them around, won't use them.

 According to a spokesman for the appliance store Best Buy, the Chinese market for dryers -- or even washer-dryer combinations -- "is by no means fully developed.'' In the chain's stores, dryers and washing machines with dryer functions make up just 10 percent of all washing machine sales.
Other businesses report similar experiences. Zhao Na, a saleswoman for Haier washing machines, a domestic brand, said, "Our factory stopped producing dryers since last year because they don't sell.'
It certainly isn't true that a couple of billion non-dryer users "can't" be wrong, but in this case, there's a real likelihood that they aren't".

 You may not agree with this choice in your life but it is always useful to consider the query:  

Are my time-saving appliances and methods (e.g., hair dryers and even clothes dryers) actually, or possibly, enslaving me?

 There follows a remarkably entertaining and civil discussion about dryers, line drying, the role of women and how to keep your clothes from getting stiff sans electric dryer (versus solar passive or "line" drying).   I just couldn't help adding the illustration of 'fly and dry' by the Field sparrow (Spizella Passerina). Enjoy!

Health through imagery

For Karen, a friend entering breast cancer therapy

Health advice:  It is important to move about, stretch, and look silly as part of your health regimen.  This particular example is avian aqua yoga a natural method for stretching and strengthening  muscles and bones.  It is done by advanced practitioners in little pools of water presumably to stay cool.  Splash about and raise a wave.

Pull your arms way up over your head--a salute to the sun, practice balance and looking tall.

Note: Your hair looks much better than theirs however, a little suit of feathers might cheer you up and the silver shoes on the Baltimore Oriole could be just the ticket to feeling less vulnerable around oncologists and chemotherapy.  If we can be any help procuring the various accoutrement just say so.

We are thinking of you. If you want more health advice from the little creatures just let me know.

To see more from the Gallery Birds -- yoga, bathing, and fitness


oh and as a former southerner check out the audiobook 'the help" (see previous blog) if you are cooling your heels in waiting rooms.

Best Sharon, Gib, and Natalya

Kind words and light to Karen

The Help- Kathryn Stockett Audio on Amazon

This is a great read but, even better, it is a fantastic listen.  It was heartily recommended by a friend with the specific instructions that I should get the audio version.  Part way through the book she had to buy the audio version so she could keep "reading" while she drove cross country.   She recommended that I go directly to that version and, she was right, as usual.   I do not think my imagination could have done justice to the richness of the voices that these women, the readers and the author have created. Natalya and I have been listening to it over and over as we drive back and forth and back and forth and back and.... well, you get the idea, to Maine.  We are working on respectable imitations of the voices we have heard.

One of the rewards is the chance through the story to talk deep history with my daughter.  Another is to remember those years-- to feel, again, the nuanced but unyielding divisions that existed; maintained through thousands of tiny gestures and unspoken supports.  At the risk of playing into some horrible cultural gaffe let me say that my ears were hungry for the timbre, rhythm, and resonance of a black woman's voice.  

It is a kind book, one that makes me stop short when I realize I cannot talk about it with my mother. A heart stopping realization. There was such pleasure in finding things that I knew down to the marrow  of my bones would make her laugh or cry.   There is so much to it and savoring all that is in it, even the hard parts, is a pleasure.  We would have, my mother and I, talked about all the invisible lines, the guy wires that support a terrible injustice making it huge, impossible to ignore, and obscenely invisible.  A society spends enormous energy pretending not to see large injustices. There is a next wave of the civil rights movement that belongs to those of us that are of "mostly-European-American" race.

There is much to be said about race and class. Regrettably, it has become difficult to talk about and therefore to learn. I believe Ms. Stockett has contributed to the possibility of conversation. 

Have you read the book?
Sharon

Ah, a gift, for you.
A little electro-magno-neuro-cardio-web-based cosmic gift for you whether you be girl or boy (aka honorary girl).   Its a story called "embrace your inner girl" by Eve Ensler


But, first, before you push play to start this brief but stirring video, riddle me this....

What sorts of things might you be doing that if someone said "you do that like a girl" that you would experience this comment as a compliment?

Fill in the blanks....You are  _____ or, do  _____  like a girl.

Enjoy the video, I think you will.



Namaste, salaam, and hallelujah

Sharon