Hello, here is today’s quote. The photo is of this morning’s sunrise on this very cold and windy day. Fresh air, not a hint of fabric softener hovering from someone else’s laundry.

January 21

“The human heart cries out for the return of beauty, for a place of sanctuary, for community and relationship, where the inner life is seen to be as important as the outer where a unifying sacred order to life on the planet is recognized and honored.”

- Anne Baring

Thoughts: Where to begin? I cannot. I have friends who believe me to be an extremely patient person but I agree with Katy Tur on MSNOW we are exhausted after year one of this Trump presidency. I feel exhausted, I feel grumpy and for the first time in decades I was triggered from my past trauma. This happened for many people during Trump 1.0, in fact many clinics in the city had hired more therapists to deal with the expected growing numbers of people who would be triggered by Trump being in office and that was when there were people who could hold him in check. No need to wait for him to take office as therapists recognized the man for what he was, a perpetrator. So now how to take care of ourselves as people are being attacked and hauled away by ICE agents, their cars and belongings left in the middle of various intersections. What do we do? It seems kind of crazy to say go to nature, watch a sunrise or walk among trees, but that is where I find sanity right now. Because for this administration terrorizing citizens is the point, the same way a rapist terrorizes his victim, the same way an abusive husband/father terrorizes his family. The constant attacks and news of the attacks wears a body and a nation down into compliance if we allow it. But we cannot allow it. We cannot turn our faces away and pretend this isn’t happening. We can tend to ourselves, walk for peace like the monks or pet the cat, play with the dog, create joyful moments that ICE and Trump cannot touch. Tend to our gardens and plants. If it’s warm walk barefoot in the grass and if it’s frozen imagine doing so. Cry because it’s necessary some days. Watch Colbert before he is silenced in June and laugh at the ridiculous. Tend to our souls in whatever way brings us solace in the crazy frightening world of today’s politics. And know as I am an eternal optimist and a right hemisphere thinker that all this horrible, awfulness has got to be the best fertilizer for what comes after the destruction of Trump’s terror. And my friends, keep breathing, spend time with green earthy things, talk with the trees and listen to their wisdom. Make a peaceful place within your heart and retreat there when needed with a book of poetry by Mary Oliver or Hafiz. Blessings ♥️