With the current political climate and the overall state of the union when it comes to racial injustice, hate crimes, and bigoted rhetoric, a gentle reminder of how to turn towards love and away from the hate…1. Love all the parts. It starts with how see your own self. I’m now 42 and have had babies. Things aren’t as perky or “young” as they used to be. I’m aging. You, too?! How do you regard the bulges on your waist, your “widening seat”, your breasts beginning to sag? Yes, start with those physical parts we tend to not like so much and are constantly trying to change and “perfect.”What if you decided to love them? Yes, that’s right – love them. What if you saw those parts as sacred space that have carried and birthed and fed babies? What if you ended the war with your own body? How do you think this would impact things in your life, your relationships? And how about those shameful parts of yourself? The parts of yourself you are disgusted with? The addictions you have? “Did you say LOVE THEM, Lisa?” Yes. Love them. It’s love that heals. It’s love that remembers “integration” and “wholeness.” Not hate. Hate divides. Yes, go on and love yourself so completely, with so much regard and kindness, and see what happens in your home, between you and your partner, between you and your children…and in our world.
A former Hillary-hater has a change of heart when she takes the time and reads all of the emails that were leaked last August…“In those emails, I discovered a Hillary Clinton I didn’t even know existed. I found a woman who cared about employees who lost loved ones. I found a woman who, without exception, took time to write notes of condolence and notes of congratulations, no matter how busy she was. I found a woman who could be a tough negotiator and firm in her expectations, but still had a moment to write a friend with encouragement in tough times. She worried over people she didn’t know, and she worried over those she did. And everywhere she went, her concern for women and children was clearly the first and foremost thing on her mind. In those emails, I also found a woman who seemed to understand power and how to use it wisely. A woman of formidable intellect who actually understood the nuances of a thing, and how to strike a tough bargain. I read every single one of the emails released in August, and what I found was someone who actually gave a damn about the country, the Democratic party, and all of our futures.”
MOMENT IN CONVENTION GLARE SHAKES UP KHANS’ AMERICAN LIFE | nytimes.com
A wonderful read that paints a vivid picture of the Khans along with their late son Humayun, and how this family’s American life came to reshape a presidential election…“It was his day off but he was not much for days off. He was the commander of the Force Protection Team of the 201st Forward Support Battalion, First Infantry Division, at Camp Warhorse in Diyala Province, Iraq. Sgt. Crystal Selby, one of the team’s drivers, went to pick him up that morning. June 8, 2004. He said he wanted to check the compound’s gate. On a day off? She told him to stay in his room. He was her boss. She could not order him to, and he got in. It was funny how she had known Captain Khan only a couple of months and yet it seemed like she had known him so much longer. It was the way he treated her and all of the soldiers. “He didn’t talk to you like he was in charge of you, but like a friend,” she said. “He taught you how to be better. Not better tanker or better fueler. Better human being.” He made sandwiches for his soldiers when there was no time to get to lunch. He had such an easy sense of humor. “I read where someone called him a soldier’s officer,” she said. “To me, he was a human’s human.” The drive took three or four minutes. She dropped him off outside the gate and headed to the office. An orange-and-white taxi carrying two suicide bombers was creeping toward the gate. Captain Khan shouted for his men to hit the dirt. That may well have saved their lives. He moved toward the taxi, trying to halt it. Sergeant Selby was still in the truck, not even to the office, when she heard the explosion. When she arrived, the news of his death was already on the radio.”
TRUMP REFLECTS WHITE MALE FRAGILITY | nytimes.com
An essay that explores the deeper meaning of the slogan Make America Great Again.…“He appeals to something deeper, something baser: Fear. His whole campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” is in fact an inverted admission of loss — lost primacy, lost privilege, lost prestige. And who feels that they have lost the most? White men.”
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| From Oprah.com |
