Locally the current wisdom is to wait a few more weeks before planting anything, as we’re still expecting at least one more (mild) freeze. All the same, it’s a good time to start planning what I’d like to plant both physically and mentally.

On the mental side, it’s all about planting seeds of perspective, understanding, and above all hope.

Here are some links for that, and to remind myself: keep your eye on the ball.

i have started reading Omar El Akkad’s “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This”

“No, there is no terrible thing coming for you in some distant future, but know that a terrible thing is happening to you now. You are being asked to kill off a part of you that would otherwise scream in opposition to injustice. You are being asked to dismantle the machinery of a functioning conscience. (…) Forget pity, forget even the dead if you must, but at least fight against the theft of your soul.” bookshop link

Several things you can do!

“Hello, currently I am the leader of my local boy scout troop and we want to focus on citizenship and community and the first thing that came to my mind was solarpunk. What are some cheap activities or things to discuss that relate to community that I could run at our next meeting?”

How To Be a Fighter When You Feel Like a Punching Bag

“…not all traumatic circumstances allow us to act with agency. Sometimes, harm happens to us, and taking control of our bodies or actions simply isn’t possible. But in other cases, it only feels that way.

The more often we have experienced true helplessness, the more likely we are to feel powerless in situations where action is possible. And the more we freeze or flail in response to threats, the more deeply ingrained those responses become.”

A working library: Make life possible

“And yet, as Le Guin reminds us, uncertainty is also the only thing that makes life possible. Without it, we would move like automatons through predetermined paths, unspirited, unaware, unliving.”

I have a few blog ideas in the queue about art (mainly music, who is surprised?) that has been sustaining me lately. Those take a lot more effort than a links post, though, so it may be just a bit longer before you see them. Until then, thanks for reading.