I hope you are taking care of yourself in this new year. I’ve made a point to be nonpolitical in my newsletters and videos because the writing and work I do is geared toward finding oneself, personal transformation, and connecting with others. It’s spiritual in nature.
But the line has been drawn for all of us with the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and the kidnapping of a five-year-old boy. And who knows what other atrocities are being done to people that are not documented by photo or video.
I stand for community, and I stand for democracy.
Some news outlets and the administration are lying about what’s happened in Minneapolis - a lovely city I’ve had the good fortune to visit a few times. And I stand for truth.
I’ve been deeply affected by the lies and the bullying, as well as the murders and kidnapping of innocent people.
I am disgusted with the president, his administration, and everyone - especially in Congress - who are part of this nightmare and have supported these atrocities.
This is America. We have rights. I hope you will exercise yours to stand up for peace, compassion, and community.
This has to stop.
I know that alone I have no voice or power to change things, but if we all stand up and speak out in whatever way we can, things will change. I will go to my grave believing that.
Have faith in each other, and take care of yourself. If you have no one to connect with and you’re in pain, please reach out to your neighbor, or to me.
When we stand together, we are not alone. And we are powerful.
We are the change we want to see.
Our Deepest Fear
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.”
(— This is often attributed to The Dalai Lama but it’s by Marianne Williamson)
One Small Act
What’s one small thing you can do to support the residents of Minneapolis? This video popped up in my feed - a 70-year-old owner of the Dream Haven bookstore near where the abuses were happening.
How about buying your next book from him? I might donate a couple of mine for him to sell and keep the money.
Thank You
Thanks for being here.
If you don’t agree with what I’ve written, please unsubscribe. I won’t engage in any type of debate, especially seeing as all the evidence is there for each of us to see with our own eyes.
With hope,
Diane
ps - Apologies if you received this twice. I almost never send the same note to both my newsletter list and post on Substack, but I feel too strongly today not to.
Thank you for your writing and for this point. It is all so heartbreaking, scary, and infuriating. It also gives hope when others share and I, personally, appreciate knowing where a person stands. At this point, it’s not about agreeing on being fiscally conservative or not, or something like that, it’s whether or not an individual or a group view others as worthy of dignity and/or life.
Thanks for taking a stand Diane. I believe that, if your heart calls you to it, it’s spiritual. This violence is straight up evil. It’s not to be overlooked as political. Thank you for your clear message.