You Choose How to Meet the Moment
I have been invited to many rallies and protests this year.
I have attended zero.
Several years ago, I did things very differently.
I joined a public action at least every few weeks, often with my baby and toddler in tow.
I regularly pulsed with fear and outrage.
I believed that putting my (white and privileged) body in the streets was the most valuable way to show how much I cared.
Learning To Practice Anywhere
I’ve spent a lot of time stretching in airports and train stations recently.
It started in Chicago, just a few minutes before I boarded my flight to Paris. I knew that if my body would be confined to a cramped sitting position with very limited mobility for close to eight hours, it was calling for spaciousness and fluidity while it could get it.
I decided to do some of my somatic practices right there at the crowded gate.
Look for the Magic
By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be on an airplane. I might already be in Paris.
It’s my first trip abroad in almost eight years, and my first solo international trip since I lived in Spain, and traveled through the Iberian Peninsula and the UK, in my mid-twenties.
So you could say it’s been a while.
Back in December, my friend Diana, a former colleague and retired English department chair, proposed the idea of visiting her in Bordeaux. I was intrigued, but mostly hesitant.