Let's Change The World Because We Feel Something

how solidarity creates sustainable movement

photo by Amy Paulson

Friends,

Recently I spoke to an incredible group of grad students from Union Theological Seminary, and they had a number of thoughtful questions, one of which was about land acknowledgments, the #landback movement, and being in relationship.

My answer to the question (which is never fully finalized because I’m always working through these questions) is that I want us to change things because of our love for one another.

I don’t want you to craft a land acknowledgment out of a sense of guilt. I want you to craft one out of a sense of kinship.

I don’t want you to protest for the environment just because it’s a hot issue; I want you to do it because you feel something, deep inside yourself, that you know to be true: that you want to heal our relationship to Segmekwe, our Mother.

I don’t want things to change for Indigenous peoples only because we keep asking for things to change; I want things to change because others care and believe that the world will be a better, healthier, more whole place if Indigenous rights are respected and cultures celebrated.

That’s about feeling something, something deep inside of us, our connection as human beings to one another.

photo by Amy Paulson

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Recently I was in Greenville, South Carolina to speak at an Interfaith event with students at Furman University, and while there I visited a local independent bookstore.

I left about an hour later with three books, after picking up and putting back various others trying to decide which ones I really need in this moment.

Leaving, I paused to be present to the moment. I felt such a sense of kinship in walking out of that store. I’m guilty like many others of ordering books on Amazon, and this moment reminded me of the power of presence, of our bodies and minds and spirits showing up for one another.

I want us to feel something when we order books, when we walk through independent bookstores, when we support one another, when she show up because we care.

My next children’s book, Spring’s Miracles, is out in less than three weeks! As we inch closer, I’ll be sharing stories about why I wrote the book, and what it means to be to be an Indigenous climber and to write about Dani facing her fears and connecting with her breath and the earth.

I want you to order this book and read it to the kids in your life because you believe it will teach them something sacred about themselves.

I want you to order for yourself to remember how brave you are and have always been. I want you to feel something when you read my words. I want the world to open up to you.

I know that many of you are here because you care, and you’re invested in this space. That means the world to me, and it makes me so excited for what we are building in a world that is heavy and scary and chaotic, but one that is also full of the reminders of our own sacredness.

May we hold that sacredness here. Sacred joy. Sacred resistance. Sacred anger. Sacred stories. Sacred art. Sacred tears. Sacred feelings.

Onward, friends.

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I’m starting a new series with paid subscribers called Journal Notes! I’ve been reading through the journals I’ve kept since about age 8, and have learned so much about myself along the way. I still have about 30 more journals to read through, but I want to share some of the moments in which I’m meeting past versions of myself, in hopes that it will inspire you to do the same.

Along with this new series, we meet twice a month to write together (usually on Tuesdays and Fridays), and it’s one of my favorite spaces to gather and hold one another’s sacred words and hearts.

Become a paid subscriber here:

I have three public book events for Spring’s Miracles in March and April that I’d love for you to attend, details below:

Please pre-order the book here!

I’ll be in New York at the end of the month, and I’d love for you to join me for this incredible interfaith event at NYU!

How should faith and doubt coexist in our lives? What is the role of practice in our spirituality? And what do these ideas have to teach us about our civic commitments?

Join the Center for Global Spiritual Life for a dynamic conversation between Rabbi Joshua Stanton, Kaitlin Cutrice, and Dr. Sheikh Faiyaz Jaffer, moderated by Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, on the role of faith and doubt in civic life.

Please register at this link to join us on February 26th!