introduction… planning for the worst, working toward the best

100+ actions for these Uncertain Times

although i intended to post this piece this morning with the beginning of Economic Blackout Day, i didn’t. i actually decided to turn what was a very long piece into a 7-part series of “how to’s” called “planning for the worst, working toward the best: 100 actions for these Uncertain Times.” although it was a rather daunting project of learning and researching (more than i bargained for, to be honest), i hope you find it helpful and supportive in the long run. for now, i look forward to reading your comments on this introduction.

with love, gratitude and blessings,

ayreÁnna

“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe. The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.... Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.... Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ~Arundhati Roy

last week, i sent this text to a friend overseas in response to him asking how i was: honestly, it’s f-ing insane! if people don’t come to see this for what it is — a corporate coup, i think they have their heads up their arses. that said, when he got elected, i said, “well, now we’ve ripped off the band-aid!” the water’s going to get a lot hotter a lot faster… and maybe that kind of suffering is really the only thing it will take to wake up most of us privileged (mostly white) folx. the sad part is, a lot of beings (human and more than human) are going to suffer for it. so, how am i? enraged, scared, grief-stricken and f-ing determined to do whatever i can right here in my community to bring people together and create as much solidarity of care and cooperation as possible. 💪🏽💪🏽♥️ how are you? 🤷🏽🤷🏽😳

whether you believe this is the end of democracy and the world as we know it or this is a moment of awakening and emergence for a New Humanity, life is getting weirder every day — especially for those of us who, being raised on the myth of the American Dream, have expected our lives to remain as they have been.

part of me is saying “wtf have we done?!?!” on a daily basis. another part is doing the best i can to prepare for an ever-evolving Uncertain Future. i'm putting all my skills to the test in order to strengthen my inner resources, deepen my self-care practices and participate in and create more local events from open mic nights to community gardening and helping neighbors with meals and chores.

i've often hesitated to bring up concepts like collapse acceptance, the rise of fascism and deep adaptation this emphatically — especially with family members, for fear of being seen as either totally nuts or hopeless about our future, or both. after all, i have two beautiful grandchildren who will inherit the mess we've made. but i’ve come to realize that, on the contrary, not facing these things is actually impractical and naive.

it is imperative that i prepare for these possibilities, regardless of whether or not they happen. whether it's in my dreams, in conversations with more and more people (including my children) or in experiences of resonance with media which has come my way recently, i am becoming more and more certain that we need to create local networks of care and resiliency for as many citizens as possible.

this is about planning for a possible future which, in the short term, could be very challenging and require a great deal of creativity and strength from all of us. in the long-term, planning like this provides the skills, resources and fortitude to help co-create a more resilient future for all who live to see it (which may or may not include me). if we all commit to living more simply, to listening to and collaborating with the myriad Earth communities and to creating vibrant, co-liberative human communities dedicated to resiliency and cooperation, then we win — regardless of what happens in the big picture.

despite the intensity of the “shock and awe” approach to governance our so-called leaders are taking, there are still a multitude of amazing things coming to fruition and we all have a part to play. i'm excited to weave the tapestry even more brightly and beautifully in response to what we've created. as Terry Tempest WIlliams wrote about Paul Hawken's book, Blessed Unrest, "I believe Paul Hawken when he says we are part of the Earth's immune system each time we exercise our active compassion in the name of social justice and ecological health."

it's time to partner with this global immune system and repair... in so many ways.

it's also time to acknowledge that birth and death are the two things we can count on in this life. it's time to befriend loss and death. when i think of the many forms of the Goddess in ancient cultures around the globe, i remember that birth and death are sometimes violent, always messy. but they don’t have to be malevolent.

and decay can be peaceful — blissful even. letting go can be done with grace and, yes, even joy. a fallen log in the forest isn’t suffering or useless. perhaps she’s rejoicing at the life she’s helping to encourage all around her. when we assume something is rendered useless when it’s destroyed, we are only seeing it from the vantage point of our limited modern industrial perspective — useless for our own purposes, for our own gain.

the evidence is strikingly clear. we need to change. pretty much everything. we need to give up almost everything to which we have become accustomed.

as i've been doing a massive amount of research (at least for me) on how to meet this moment with as much clarity, safety and sanity as possible, seven categories have emerged which highlight what we can do to take action and prepare ourselves for what's here and what's to come. none of them is more important than another. they all rely on and affect one another — like a web. and this is most assuredly not a complete list. rather, it's a beginning, an offering.

what i've come away with is that you can take actions to inform yourself about what's going on socially, politically and environmentally in ways that don't overload your nervous system. you can take actions to bolster your economic, data, home and personal safety. you can become part of a trusted network of community members working to build resiliency and care for so many good reasons. and you can strengthen your inner resources and capacity to be present with this and future moments. in many ways, this is about adulting in the broadest and deepest sense.

i strongly suggest making time in your daily or weekly schedule to take the actions that are important for you personally and as a member of your community. after all, we’re in this for the long haul, regardless of how long that is.

thank you for reading this introduction. years of contemplation, research and discussion have gone into every word and i very much look forward to reading your comments here and in the following articles in this series.

"As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please." ~ Noam Chomsky

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A BALM FOR YOUR SOUL THIS MORNING:
You are awakening to the same country you fell asleep to.
The very same country.
Pull yourself together.
And, when you see me, do not ask me “What do we do now?
How do we get through the next four years?"
Some of my Ancestors dealt with 
at least 400 years of this under worse conditions.
Continue to do the good work.
Continue to build bridges not walls.
Continue to lead with compassion.
Continue the demanding work of liberation for all.
Continue to dismantle broken systems, large and small.
Continue to set the best example for the children.
Continue to be a vessel of nourishing joy.
You can continue right where you are.
Right where you live into your days.
Do so in the name of The Creator, who expects nothing less from each of us.
And if you are not "continuing" ALL of the above in community, partnership, collaboration?
What is it you have been doing?
What is it you are waiting for?

~ Venice Williams, as posted here 11/6/24