Third Quarter Moon: link post
Discover more from Songs of Forgiveness
Third Quarter Moon: link post
An election, a book, a lobotomy
Politics
Minneopolitans, heads up, there is an election on November 7th. And voting for your next city council member has already begun.
This election has the potential to surprise, as there will be nothing else on the ballot and is unlikely to draw high numbers of voters to the polls. (But who is to say, the world is changing 🤷🏽♀️) In addition, winners will be decided by instant-runoff and sometimes the unexpected happens there as well.
In 2020, city of Minneapolis voters amended the city charter to include elections in 2021 and 2023, due to the census and redistricting, so our current city council members have been serving 2 year terms. That is why this election is alone on the ballot. In 2025, city council members return to four year terms, but are subject to this change after the next census.
The governing of our city has been hugely challenging since the murder of George Floyd. The tragedy of his death made the dysfunctions of our public safety system impossible to continue to ignore.
Change is a complex process and we are in the midst of it and this election with its mix of candidates deserves your attention (StarTribune’s assessment of the impending election).
There have already been changes to governance (2021’s amendment to the charter to adopt an executive mayor -read about how it is going). And many more changes are still to happen. Now that a judge has an approved the council’s unanimous police reform plan based on the Minnesota Human Rights Department report and the results of the US Justice Department’s investigation, some are already in the works and certainly more will be coming. In addition, our city’s plan for the future, the 2040 plan, despite the recent stay by a judge, will still happen. The council will be important in determining how.
The candidates are speaking to public safety in their campaigns, and also street plowing, shoveling, city bike lanes, and the Minneapolis 2040 plan.
As a resident of Ward 13, I am proud to endorse our incumbent, Linea Palmasano (here is an interview with her from March), works with others on the board and across the city. I met her in 2017 in my work for Southwest High School and know she is a great listener and she shows up. I am also a strong believer that experience matters. People learn and grow in positions and it takes time for a governing body to work well together, especially when they represent the diversity of our city. And I believe this body does.
And when they do do their work, results take time to be apparent. Things are changing, crime rates continue to decline and the police are being held accountable and wards across the city are learning how to work together.
Also, our council will necessarily change, as 2 of the 13 are retiring this year.
You can vote from now until Election Day November: Where to vote
you can vote by mail,
or vote early in person
Now’s a good time to check to see if you are registered and find out where your polling place is.
Not exactly related, but included, in case you want to hear Hillary’s take on the age question:
Book
I have been reading Brené Brown’s book Atlas of the Heart (see photo above). It has taken me a while to get to it, despite it being a favorite of Josh’s, my therapist husband, who has made many recommendations for it. It’s an easy read, but the emotions it covers are dense. So I have been taking time with it. Her premise is that having a shared language of emotions matters. In this book, she highlights how an accurate representation of our emotional responses would lessen violence and allow us to take actions that drive meaningful change. I love the map metaphor she uses. I can say with certainty, it’s a book that will have monumental impact on me.
Perhaps that is why I resisted it for so long?
Breath by James Nestor (is another influential book for me). Mainly because of the way they both gather research together. I find them both to be a call to action with a lot to grab on to. I admire Brown’s diligence in bringing the next right thing to her readers. I predict that her road map will show us a way forward in this world of split factions and discontent.
Dr. Johanna Macy
is an author, buddhist scholar and environmental activist who is 94 years old (since we are talking about age - amazing). She has been on my radar since listening to her interview on Insights from the Edge with Tami Simon during the pandemic. I remember listening to her talk about her beloved Berkeley while my daughter was nannying there for her gap year between high school and college. Loved imagining my daughter walking the streets Macy described. I loved her idea that there are 3 worlds becoming at once and we don’t actually know which one will prevail (see quote below). Also she says that hope is action. You put your energy behind the outcome you wish for. Much of my writing has been compelled by this idea.
This interview of her from Lion’s Roar Magazine is the sequel to that podcast. I found so much in it to hold on to. I hope you will too.
I can’t be sure where I encountered the article. I like to give credit to who alerted me to things, but this one sat open in my tabs for a long time, another example of my resistance to what will eventually be influential. When I finally read it it was like a breath of fresh clean air, with a sense of the way forward. In this way, another thing that is like Atlas of the Heart. In this article Macy speaks about connection and learning how to address suffering. Some quotes below:
She says “reconnecting with the web of life may be harder for us than for any of our ancestors.”
And “the grief you feel is just the other side of love. You only mourn what you love.”
Here’s more (I can’t stop):
I think all we can really affirm is where we want to put our attention. I have a choice: do I want to give up and surrender to the great unraveling, or do I want to join those who are working for a liveable future? Since the outcome is uncertain, we have to enjoy doing something exhilarating and useful without knowing for sure if it’s going to work out.
We need to and we can find adventure in uncertainty. That’s the best we can offer right now. Uncertainty
rivets the attention. It’s like walking on a narrow trail with the land falling off on either side. It concentrates the mind wonderfully. But if you want a sure fire, guaranteed deal, then I don’t know where you’d find it right now, except through some kind of frontal lobotomy.
If you’ve been following along with the moon meditations, here’s the one for this week:
Here’s to living with our right minds, right hearts, right hands. Much love, Tina