Today, while doing holiday shopping, I stopped in one of my favorite stores, in small town USA, Doylestown, PA, called Monkey’s Uncle. A family owned business, it offers retro-vintage items as well as Philadelphia sports team merch. Lately, they have added stuff that celebrates diversity. Since it is Small Business Saturday, I decided it was time to ‘love my local’. I picked up a few things for family members and as I was about to check out, I saw an item that absolutely had to come home with me. You know what it’s like when something speaks to you and won’t let you leave without it? Today, these soft and fuzzy purple and white tie dyed gloves called me by name and I was helpless to resist.
As I was driving home, I was musing about the way I would describe my fashion sense. Stevie Nicks meets Cyndi Lauper; colorful, flowing, multi-layered style. Add to it, purple hair and I fit the description of a gracefully aging hippie. Patchouli and lavender oils and Nag Champa incense are my go to scents. I have a purple lava lamp in my dining room and a peace sign hanging on my bathroom wall, along with a Ganesh, an Om and a plaque that is scripted in Hebrew with the word Shalom (peace). My favorite musical genres are folk and Woodstock era rock. This past summer I indulged in two pair of shoes that I haven’t worn since my 20s. Birkenstocks (one lavender hued and one tan) reminded me of who I used to be. A flower child optimist with baby’s breath in her hair who saw life through rose colored glasses. If only she knew then what I know now. This was before I went to grad school, got married, became a mom and then a widow and single parent. Before I became an ordained interfaith minister and Hugmobster Armed With Love.
I imagine as I become more ‘seasoned,’ I will morph into an even more eccentric and outspoken crone. Back then, I never imagined that I would be a political commentator. The 2016 election changed the trajectory of my life. There was no way that I could keep from standing up for what I believe in. Protection of the environment, animal rights, gun ownership, voting rights, free speech, gender equality, police reform, sex, religion, food insecurity, whether or not to wear a mask, or receive a vaccine all have the power to cause conflict. Having the ability to write on those topics has been part of my self care regimen. There are times, more frequent lately, that I have tumbled into despair about the state of the world and the dire predictions of what will occur if the human race doesn’t get its act together.
I was inspired to write this a few days ago when feeling particularly discouraged.
There are some days when that means wanting to shake people into awakening. I can’t do that. There are some days I want to smack them into awakening. Being a pacifist and someone who finds violence unacceptable, I can’t do that. There are some days when I want to scream, STOP!!!! and invoke my mother who would say, “Knock it off!” I do that when I can. Does it make a difference? I would like to think so. I do what I can to live my beliefs in peace, love and understanding, but there are some days when it is more challenging than others to see the beauty and magic in the world.
So today, I will don my purple and white tie dye gloves and flash a few peace signs out in a world sorely in need of it and love the world into healing.
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This post is republished on Medium.
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All images courtesy of the author.
