On post-election puppy therapy

And saying: "Nevertheless"

I spent the weekend after the election dog-sitting for friends while they traveled to a wedding out of state. It was just what I didn’t know I needed, after the disheartening results we had gotten just a few days earlier. Plus, the first major snow of the season pummeled us, so it was a welcome respite that gave me the opportunity to hunker down to do some reading, thinking, and writing, with plenty of puppy snuggles. My mind needed the space to unclench as much as my body did.

This quote from Toni Morrison caught my attention as I read: “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair. No place for self-pity. No need for silence. No room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” (From Toni Morrison, "No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear," The Nation (March 23, 2015)

Nine years later, this is also the time for artists to go to work. The United States is being threatened with authoritarianism within, and half of the American people seem to have chosen it, either oblivious to that threat – how could they be? – or not caring to preserve our Constitution. We need healing so bad. We have for a long time. And I have a feeling it could get worse before it gets better.

One of the themes of Kamala Harris’s campaign was joy. Joy is resistance. Beauty is resistance. Love is resistance. Justice and opportunity, equal for all, is resistance. So let us get busy creating joy, beauty, love, justice, and opportunity. Whether your medium is paint or pencil, clay or collage, music or menus, poetry or prose, let it flow. Maybe you’re creating a small business. Maybe you’re raising your family. Life itself is a continuous creative process--our art. Let it flow.

As I read that weekend, my own thoughts and words began to bubble up. This seems a ready-made place to share at least some of them. When I started The Clapping Oak Journal, I did so primarly to platform my writing on communication-related or at least -adjacent topics that would align with my work helping individuals and organizations build a foundation of good communication skills to support their goals and build community. I’ll still do that. But now I want to take Toni Morrison’s words to heart, follow my own advice, and let my words flow in an even more vulnerable way, to express my thoughts and concerns, ideas and values.

I’ve already begun creating some additional content for The Clapping Oak Journal. I’m not calling it art, not yet anyway, but it will be me speaking, writing, using language to share important stories, my own and others. It might resonate with you; it might not. I hope you’ll find some meaning in it.

You’ll soon see additional posts titled “Nevertheless:” then subtitled according to the subject. That will be your clue to decide whether you want to read it or skip it. As always, feel free to share with others in your circle. And if you’re not a regular reader, please consider subscribing.

Onward.

Breathe in and out.

Go create some art.