A Time To Speak

Everything changes, all the time. How we cope with change defines who we are, outlines our lives.

I often feel as if I’m starting over again, again, again. But actually this feeling stems from my adjusting to changed circumstances, which I—which all of us—must do over and over and over.

I feel like writing, I want to write, I write. I don’t write, I don’t want to write, I don’t feel like writing.

When big changes happen in my life, I tend to go quiet, to retreat into myself. Wandering around lost for a while appears to be how I cope. And so I’ve been quiet here, despite my best intentions of a year ago, when I thought I’d try to resume posting on a regular basis.

And now I’m itching again, wanting to say things, so many things.

Censorship is in the news. Authoritarianism has taken hold, and I’m reminded of how much of my life already has been dictated by what someone in power does or does not want and by all the things that cannot be said for fear of repercussions.

I follow all that’s happening to a certain extent. I’m very ordinary with a small life, but even small lives—perhaps, especially, small lives—are political. What is politics if not a means of affecting the lives of a country’s citizens in a positive way? Well, I suppose to some, the goal is not to help the smallest thrive but rather to grab as much as possible for those who already have too much yet want more, more, more.

This is why I’m always called back to speaking truth, to being loud about it, to shaking off my inclination to run and hide. Does it matter? Maybe not if I’m the only one talking, from over here in my tiny corner of the internet. But what if we all spoke, concurrently, frequently, refusing to stop so long as anyone continues to try to censor us? What if every corner of the internet started talking about all the things those who crave power don’t want said? What if we all refuse to shut up or go away?

Let’s counter the forces that aim to punish, denigrate, and deprive with our millions of voices in favor of love and light and acceptance. We should not make it easy for those who are trying to make our lives hard. We should not allow them to forget that there are many, many more of us.

photo by Carolyn Langton via Flickr