I was writing a couple of cards tonight to mail in the morning (saving the USPS one stamp at a time, uffda), and started having this thought playing through my head: most people I know are experiencing personal shifts this year — big and small — on top of the global shifts we’re seeing with the pandemic, civil rights, the election (to name a few).
In one card I wrote: when it rains it pours, or rather when your finger gets singed the world catches fire. But I think there’s a powerful phoenix metaphor in there.
People in my life have moved across the country (counting me but I’m not the only one), gotten married, are going through a divorce, changing careers, watching their plans fall apart, making new plans, producing art, growing their business, or battling with some of the most powerful depression and anxiety of their lives.
I’ve seen similiar cycles play out in my close friend group — in some ways we seem to ride the dips and swells of life together — but now it’s playing out on a much broader scale. Do you feel it?
So we mail a letter, make calls demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, show up for someone we love or something we care about in a way we’ve never shown up before, and we will vote, vote, vote, vote.
And whatever it is for you, whatever journey you’re on, whatever shift is moving you this year, I hope it leads you to where you want to be. Or where you need to be.
I don’t know where we are in the cycle of burning, death, ashes, rebirth. I don’t know if we need to blow on the flames or stick our hands into the remains searching for our baby phoenix. But I do know I am forever changed this year. Not just my external world, but me. This year changed me, is changing me. And I hope you let it change you too.
With Love,
Natalie