What an aberrant week.

Eating, sleep, movement, and mental activities are all deranged a little, and more than a little resistant to intentional redirection. The only function fully intact, if not heightened, is talking and connecting with people. Text, email, social media, FaceTime, in person. Many pages of journaling. Lots of music, no book input in any form–that is definitely aberrant. Fascinating.

I wrote last night about the work of connection across difference getting harder. It starts now. Already I feel the apprehension, the tension of engaging with both Blue and Red friends (not yet in the same gathering–that’s next level at this point). I have some general impressions of both groups formed over the years, not yet articulated formally on this blog– generalizing is not an ideal way to approach humans, especially individually. Still, if I’m going to talk politics with anyone, I will benefit from clarifying some things for myself–identifying and monitoring the assumptions I make and querying the assumptions that others may make about me.

I spent an hour today replying to comments from this month–thank you for your patience, dear readers and friends. I wrote to Donna, “Those of us in bridging spaces and mindset have our work cut out for us, no question. The path turns harder uphill and more rocky for the foreseeable future. And, this is what we have trained for. I feel excited, like an athlete looking to PR a different movement every couple weeks (which I’m actually doing at Ethos regularly! [emoji string])… Ya. Keep going. Slow and steady. Bend that long moral arc.”

I have trained for this, yes. And the terrain before me is both familiar and new. I have my usual equipment and skills. The path ahead will require new tools and movements. I may get hurt; I will fail to anticipate weather and obstacles. So I proceed with cautious confidence, awareness, and respect. I’m making my way slowly through Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, as I borrowed it on CD from the library and my only working CD player is in the car. Might there be parallels here? I’m an experienced relationship and communication ‘hiker’. Engaging and connecting across difference through the next presidential administration may be my Pacific Crest Trail. So, I will pack smart and walk with fellow proficient hikers. I bet we meet some pretty awesome folks on the journey, see some breathtaking vistas, fall down, sustain some cuts and bruises, and get our egos handed to us at least a few times. The learning and connections will be worth the costs, I am convinced, especially if we can help others on the trail, too.

This hiker is tired tonight, friends. So:

I Hold Awareness for Us of our own energy, tolerances and limits–these are dynamic.
I Hold Awareness for Us of the call to connection.
I Hold Awareness for Us of every person’s full humanity and value, no matter who they voted for.
I Hold Awareness for Me of the resistance that my words, attitudes, and admonishments may evoke. I will monitor my own reserves and boundaries. I will rest and find alternate routes when needed. Connection across difference does not necessarily need to occur in explicitly political conversations.
I Hold Awareness for the paths of possibility before all of Us.