Enough! What are you doing? What is wrong with you?
This post is different from what I usually write about. I love writing about good books. I love to celebrate romance novels turning into movies and share good things that can help us build a beautiful inner life and spread kindness, hope, and light to those around us. But in times like these, it feels a bit trite to ignore what’s going on.
My heart has been breaking in new ways this week as I struggle to know what to do in a country whose government is now kidnapping world leaders and invading other countries to exploit their resources and murdering innocent people in broad daylight with no consequences.
I know we’re all doing our best to understand what’s going on in the world in the truest way we can. I know some of you reading this message may not believe that what happened to Renee Good on Wednesday was the American government murdering an innocent woman and then spinning the story in true George Orwell 1984 fashion, but I do.
I agree with the mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey, "Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly. . . this was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed." And I don’t feel that I can write about anything else today and not say at least that.
I have no idea what to do except keep living, keep loving, keep reading, and keep looking for opportunities to do something, anything, to stop this madness.
I don’t know if speaking out on Instagram or other internet channels makes a difference, but I’m joining people who are speaking out there because I can’t ignore the way our government is escalating hatred, bullying, and reckless actions. Staying silent doesn’t feel right for me.
Something else I’m doing is reading everything I can get my hands on that’s written by survivors of oppressive regimes, the first of which I mentioned in last week’s message — The Happiest Man on Earth, and the first thing that’s sticking with me is this:
“If enough people had stood up then, on Kristallnacht, and said,
‘Enough!
What are you doing?
What is wrong with you?’
then the course of history would have been different.
But they did not.
They were scared. They were weak.
And their weakness allowed them to be manipulated into hatred.”
― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth
So I guess this is me saying, “Enough! What are you doing? What is wrong with you?” to my government — and also to every single person who thinks what they’re doing now is okay.
It’s not okay. I can’t be okay with it. I’m searching for more I can do to stop it. I’m taking suggestions if you have them.
💛
Celeste
did AI write this? nope, this lady did ⤴ always💛