It got crowded. What was six feet became four and then two. It was hot. I started thinking about myself in ways I don’t normally, as old, as immune compromised. So just before it was time to kneel for nine minutes in silence, I left. I said metta all the way home.
May George Floyd be peaceful. May he be free of inner and outer harm. May he be cared for gently as he makes his passage home. May he know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May the young woman who filmed Floyd’s murder be peaceful. May she be free of inner and outer harm. May she be healed of recent and transgenerational trauma. May she be cared for gently as she walks upon this earth. May she know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May George Floyd’s family be peaceful. May they be free of inner and outer harm. May they be cared for gently as they walk upon this earth. May they know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May the people of Minneapolis be peaceful. May they be free of inner and outer harm. May they be cared for gently as they walk upon this earth. May they know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May the people of Houston be peaceful. May they be free of inner and outer harm. May they be cared for gently as they walk upon this earth. May they know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May all protesters be peaceful. May all protesters be free of inner and outer harm. May they be cared for gently as they walk upon this earth. May they know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May all members of law enforcement be peaceful. May all police be free of inner and outer harm. May they be cared for gently as they walk upon this earth. May they minister to the public gently and for the greater good. May they know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May all Americans be peaceful. May we be free of inner and outer harm. May we be cared for gently as we walk upon this earth. May we know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May all sentient beings be peaceful. May all sentient beings be free of inner and outer harm. May they be cared for gently as they walk upon this earth. May they know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
May the earth be peaceful. May the earth be free of harm. May the earth be cared for gently as it spins through space. May the earth know joy, wisdom, and compassion.
Tomorrow — a rant. I’ll bet you can hardly wait.
How is everyone doing?
Dee, this was a most beautiful post, filled with important and graceful images and words that speak to the heart. Thank you for this.
I too feel older this time around, that and being not yet strong enough…I’ve not gone out.
I thought I had picked one with relatively little risk but it was too much.
Your words and images are moving and powerful, thankyou. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s rant, I learn a lot from your rants.
I’m rethinking the rant. Not sure. Time and place, you know?
We do what we need to do to persist … need to be realistic in what that might be … even if what we see in the mirror is hard to accept … we are not young any more
Metta is such a powerful gift to our selves and our world … thank you fort this heartfelt expression of it
Yes our puny issues about how to insert ourselves and stand up for justice are like a hangnail to the pain of being Black in this nation. So we must find ways to keep adding our energy to the calls for reform.
Thank you
❤️
In the paper this morning a woman writes that in the Portland Maine protest they all laid on the asphalt hands behind their backs for 9 minutes. She struggled to breathe after 5 . Had to give up at 8. Will never forget how it felt.
Douchebag is visiting your state and I read every word of the op ed in The Portland Examiner (? I think) calling for his resignation.
Metta. I didn’t know the word, now I do, and thanks. Beautiful post.
Whether it’s age or something else, I don’t feel like walking right into a situation where I might be likely to be exposed. Proud of you for taking care. Oh, I did do that vigil last week. But that’s it for me. The next day we heard a helicopter flying over. Now, I don’t know my helicopters but it was HUGE and grey-green with a pointy-pipe thing on the nose.We don’t live far from McGuire AF Base but we never hear anything in the air. Looking up, it soon appeared and flew right above the house tops, very slow, straight down our street and over our tiny little heads. A few neighbors were drawn out in the street to see WTF. I made a new friend when I asked, “Did you see the bayonet on the front?”. He laughed and said, “That a refueling pipe”. I replied, “That’s comforting”. Haven’t seen anything more. Must’ve been just a friendly warning? WTF? I am so grateful to those who are out there standing up against this political morass and standing up for racial justice.
Given fears of contagion, it was hard to stay present at first and then hard to stay at all. I mean, I haven’t been in a fucking grocery store since March 11! We had helicopters flying over Newton for a while midday yesterday. Usually it’s because there’s been a car accident on Route 9, but yesterday, I did wonder. Heard an interview with Boston folks yesterday — about the double standard applied to closing the T. They closed it this week out of fears of blah blah blah. The thing is that’s all well and good, but they never close the train when the sports fans lose their minds and run in packs wreaking havoc.
P S don’t laugh. I came home and gargled with hydrogen peroxide. Massachusetts cases going down but are still in the 400’s a day.