This cutie, living right on the actual ground, is Cladonia furcata, called by the Seek app “Many-Forked Cladonia” and by my sassy lichen guide “Woodland Feelgood.” My guide calls the form it takes “lax cushions of abundantly branching podetia.”
I have just finished my first term of social work school and have a couple of weeks off. My major aspiration is to be a lax cushion; preferably on the actual ground. I’ll be traveling to see friends and family, farther than I have in ages. We all have a fresh set of shitty pandemic facts to navigate, but I feel tender and hopeful when I remember that I can navigate those facts with people I love.
Here are a few things I wanted to tell you about:
Youth Wellness Movement virtual conference, Sept 4. For educators, parents, whoever cares about schools. This is Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, Jeff Duncan-Andrade, and Glenda Macatangay. THE BEST. RSVP here.
Defecting from Supremacy, 5 sessions starting Aug 15. This is for white men, and is facilitated by Chris Crass who is rad as hell. If you are a white man, go to this!! Register here.
this collection of hopeful antidotes to racial capitalism: Beautiful Solutions. You can ignore the first slide of instructions and just explore. This was shared as part of a Southern Movement Assembly meeting.
a place to put money: support those resisting Line 3. This doc has where to give, and other ways to get involved.
What I am practicing lately is paying attention to the pain that sometimes comes along with trying to act according to my values. I want to tell the stories of what I mean but they involve other people and it doesn’t seem appropriate. So I just want to say it, because maybe you are aware of that pain too. I am practicing noticing it and not immediately drawing the conclusion that it means I can’t act in alignment with my values, that it’s not worth it, that I suck at it, etc, but just noticing the pain as a sign that I actually am doing it. I am choosing to.
<3