Hey, it's (sort of) the first day of the new decade! Er, depending on who you ask. Judging from the many, MANY "Best of 2010s" articles I've read over the past few months, the consensus seems to be that decades begin at Year 0. Since the significance of these markers is completely artificial, that's a … Continue reading A Mindful New Year
Tag: politics
The Anxious Person’s Guide to Political Discourse
Personal confrontations among friends are a special kind of hell. No matter how much you brace for the conflict, or how hard you try to keep calm, eventually the anxiety takes hold and restraint goes out the window. It's such an awful experience most of us will do anything to avoid it. Unfortunately, in today's … Continue reading The Anxious Person’s Guide to Political Discourse
Building A Better Buddhist in 2019
If there is one thing in 2019 we are sorely in need of, it's more compassion and empathy. I know this has been the rallying cry of many different corners of our society for a while now -- some have even weaponized the idea of civility as a means of shutting down dissent. But look … Continue reading Building A Better Buddhist in 2019
(Politics) For The Culture
The culture wars have been raging for a little while now, on all kinds of different fronts in so many different ways. We're fighting about the idea of "white culture", the cultural appropriation of Native Americans and black Americans, how to clearly and succinctly define what's offensive about one thing while another thing is given … Continue reading (Politics) For The Culture
(Personal) Tharn
It's been a rough summer for me, anxiety-wise. The news is full of terrible stories from the current president's administration in the United States, and it's coming so fast the scandals just bleed together. Saying the President or his Cabinet has done something awful that threatens the fabric of democracy is like saying water is … Continue reading (Personal) Tharn
(Politics) Your Light is All You Have
The world is on fire and nothing is okay. At a time when climate change is chugging along exactly as scientists said it would, when we're running out of fresh water and the crude, polluting oil we've built our entire society around, the world is caught up in a wave of xenophobia, authoritarianism and weaponized … Continue reading (Politics) Your Light is All You Have
(Politics) Fighting to Save the Things We Love
"That's how we're going to win: not fighting what we hate, saving what we love." - Rose Tico, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Last week, the actress who played Rose, Kelly Marie Tran, deleted her Instagram account after months of harassment rooted in racism and misogyny by trolls who hated her inclusion in the Skywalker … Continue reading (Politics) Fighting to Save the Things We Love
(Politics) Mindful Resistance
Ever since Michael Brown was shot dead by a police officer in Ferguson, MO I don't think I've been able to reflect on our political situation without a mix of anger, horror or despair. It's been tough to know what to do with these very difficult emotions even at the best of times; when the … Continue reading (Politics) Mindful Resistance
Kwanzaa, Day 4: Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
Habari gani, brothers and sisters? So a number of studies have been released teasing out the role that race plays in upward mobility -- in other words, how easy it is for black vs. white families to rise out of poverty. There's this study from the Brookings Institution about the economic mobility of black and … Continue reading Kwanzaa, Day 4: Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
(Writing) A Future With Me In It
It's getting harder for me to look at the news these days without feeling like I'm staring into the void of our own self-destruction. The current US administration seems obsessed with assuaging the bruised ego of the President, making the lives of the poor and working class as difficult as possible, and letting the rich … Continue reading (Writing) A Future With Me In It
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 