So have had a few awful interactions with police, mainly due to the policies they choose to or are forced to follow. Mental health checks should not end with 3 officers kneeling on the citizen, full stop. Three officers with their guns and tasers and bullet-proof vests ended up kneeling on my back, legs, andContinue reading “Just in case they kill me…”
A Letter Sent to Powerful People
Thanks for your time today. [This is a public sharing of a letter sent to the powerful] I’m a disabled intersectional individual experiencing homelessness, and the majority of systems I have encountered have been detrimental. Should you like information about specifics, please try and I’ll get to them in sequence. I am concerned for howContinue reading “A Letter Sent to Powerful People”
NATURE, SPACE, MOON, EARTH, WINDOW: A Fictional Story (Calm Down)
It’s all over now. It’s finally over. Well, the waiting is over anyways and that was what made these last few months (years?) on the terminal feel like purgatory. Now it’s just The Rest, as they’d always mentioned there would be. Nothing but the sharp intake of breath could be heard as the group ofContinue reading “NATURE, SPACE, MOON, EARTH, WINDOW: A Fictional Story (Calm Down)”
We need to Talk…
If the social experiment of capitalism and colonization has shown us anything, it’s that power corrupts (or maybe it’s cause/correlation; that those who go for power are corrupt or those IN power have corruptions stemming from elitism.) We need to run our people-systems differently than we run businesses. We’re not products on a shelf, staticContinue reading “We need to Talk…”
The Ways We Punish the Poor
Ever missed a bill and then you’re slapped with the NSF fees? Suddenly that $40 bill is charging you over a hundred from the bill issuers and the banks. That’s a poor tax. On the topic of banks, know how all of those accounts where the fees are waived if you carry over a certainContinue reading “The Ways We Punish the Poor”
Shame is not a Social Justice Tool
It’s important for us to maintain perspective when pursuing social justice and equality. As much as we may want to yell sense into someone, it’s only going to create further divides at the end of the day. From inherent shame about our bodies to insecurity about our abilities or intellect; shame is a driving factorContinue reading “Shame is not a Social Justice Tool”
Mission Control, are You There?
We are complicated grown-up children, but also fine-tuned machines that we don’t really understand. Our needs and capacities are similar to the gauges and indicators on a space ship. Just as if a ship was running low on fuel, if you are running low on [food] [water] [love] [purpose] [community] you will be unable toContinue reading “Mission Control, are You There?”
Backpack Theory
Our lives are our own unique journey. We may journey far from where we start out, or we might stick close to home. Neither is better or worse, but we do learn a lot on our journeys. Whether we choose to take Sisyphus’ route and hope that sheer persistence is enough or you choose toContinue reading “Backpack Theory”
5 Ways Hustling is Failing Us
“Fake it till you make it,” they say, but what happens when we can’t continue to fake it? There’s this myth that hard work equals prosperity, that any personal issues need to just be ignored, you have to “get over it, snowflake.” Ask any of the essential workers, and they can tell you that’s aContinue reading “5 Ways Hustling is Failing Us”
You Can’t See Your Own Blind Spots.
When I was growing up I thought my parents (particularly my father) knew everything but as I age, I increasingly see that that was the intended perception, stemming from his anxiety and insecurity, and we all have so much to learn. There was this hidden manipulation too though, to make my mother seem unreasonable forContinue reading “You Can’t See Your Own Blind Spots.”