3/4/2025

I woke from a dream this morning feeling light and joyful…

In the dream, I sat down in the bleachers with a group of artsy, outcast, high school students amid their pottery, artwork, multi-colored hairdos and black, slogan-laden tee shirts.   They asked me what the future looked like.   They were ready to hear about a new story for what the future could hold.

I’ve been reluctantly holding on to the path that I was raised with.  My parents and best school teachers encouraged it.  This path represented an American ethos and values that could light our world up as an example of freedom, justice for everyone, compassion, inclusion and strength that followed from “walking softly but carrying a big stick”.  It was a compelling vision in which humanity worked together, across national boundaries, to build a future harmonious with each other and with nature. 

That path is closed to me now.  I will try not to dwell on this point, but there are no longer two paths in the road for me.  Our country is NOT going to save us.   This became clear on Friday, Feb. 28 2025 with what I’m calling the TVZ (Trump-Vance-Zelensky) inflection point.  In this inflection point, the American President demonstrated to the world that he would only favor the powerful – and smaller nations are meant to be exploited and sub-servient.

The American people chose, with a majority of the electorate, to install an incompetent bully and convicted felon as their leader.  He has proudly hung his mugshot in the White House.   The choice was for anarchy, strength through power, America as a bullying entity and derision of all the values I was raised with.  With all three branches of government firmly under control of this tyrant, it is quite unlikely that America will stray from this path.

All former nations that followed a pattern of craven self-interest have imploded.  The sooner we redirect our energy to a different path, the path of building our communities and eco-systems, the more we will be able to save.

So … where there may have been two paths in the road, one road has now been marked “condemned” for me.    For now… I will continue to voice my opinion on the national level about those things I believe in.  I will encourage my legislators to support the bills that matter to me, until we have a fully realized Politburo in place.  I will continue to support groups like the ACLU, until such value-driven organizations are closed down.   I will vote in the next national elections, if they are held.   

However, I will NOT cling to the hope that this old path will save us.   I will no longer invest my precious personal energy into this path.   The TVZ inflection point made clear that we now live in Trumplandia.   Our countrymen have chosen a path that will only accelerate the climate crisis, the decimation of social structures and the inevitable irrelevance of our national government.

I have always loved our country deeply. It must be laid to rest with dignity and respect for all of the ideals that were held, for all the lives that were sacrificed in the name of a dream of a world governed “by the people, for the people”.
If, by some miracle that I cannot fathom, we are able to reclaim our country, I will happily redirect my energy back to a global vision of collective harmony.

More importantly, I will be participating in grieving and “Hospicing Modernity” ceremonies and practices described by Vanessa Machado de Oliviera.  In addition, Joanna Macy’s “The Work that Reconnects” is a valuable resource for navigating this inter-story space.  

There is a lot of trauma work that goes with abandoning a life-long path.  And I will welcome my friends, family and fellow Americans who will also be abandoning the path marked “my Country will save us” in the months and years to come.  I hope they join me in personal and collective healing to develop resilience.  

My psychic energy has been freed.  This is giving me joy this morning.  I now know what path is worth investing in – and I can now do so without reservation. I now know how I would answer those kids in my dream, asking what the future looked like.

I will be spending my time on forging ahead on a new path.  This path is steeped in a vision of strong community ties, friendships and localizing our resources.   Tariffs don’t matter if you get all your goods locally.    Energy becomes less important if my footprint doesn’t require me to import gobs of gas and oil.    And my answer to more extreme weather is to plant more trees, capture water in my soil, and strengthen my connection to nature.

I look forward to continuing to build with my community.  

Music around the fire.  Dancing.  Singing.  Learning an instrument.  Raising new crops.  Learning to hunt.  Learning to can winter vegetables.  Meeting my animal neighbors.

The TVZ inflection point gave me permission to lean into this with all of my heart.  The path will have its challenges.   There will be detractors.   I will lose and have lost friends who aren’t willing to travel this path.  Maybe we’ll meet up again as our nation crumbles.

But this is the world that my heart knows is possible.   I hope to see you in it!