On Friday morning, 4/5/2024, I was playing with my nearly 2-year-old granddaughter as is typical for my weekday mornings. Two days a week, time spent singing, dancing, cuddling, reading, playing dress up, building Leggo towers, coloring, painting, playing with trucks, dolls and dinosaurs is also with her 4-year-old brother and two just with her when he is in pre-school. Unbeknownst to me, a seismic event was taking place. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook, rattled and rolled buildings up and down the east coast, according to the US Geological Survey. It wasn’t until I glanced at Facebook that I started seeing posts popping up in a 10 mile radius of my son and daughter-in-law’s home talking about the earthquake.
I do know what it feels like, since I experienced it when I was working as a social worker in a psychiatric hospital many years ago. I was in my office and felt a wave of dizziness as the room swayed and it seemed that the floor shifted. Nothing fell off the walls, furniture didn’t move. I live in a region of the country where earthquakes are rare so when they have occurred, people have felt more anxious, than, say those who live in San Fran where it is a more regular event.
After being with my granddaughter, I went to my office. No evidence of a temblor. As I drove home from work last night, I wondered if I would find any indication that my house had experienced energy undulation. Nope. Whew! No aftershocks noted either.
There is more than enough upheaval in the world without an earthquake to shake things up.
Like most people in my circles, I am appalled with much that is occurring. War, gun violence, the contentious presidential election, discrimination, women’s body sovereignty under attack are part of the 24 hour news cycle. I do what I can to show up, stand up and speak out.
I saw this beautiful and inspiring quote by Eve Ensler, (now known as V) author of the play The Vagina Monologues, The Good Body and the book, The Apology. It is a rallying cry for me and is my raison de’tre.
An activist is someone who cannot help but fight for something. That person is not usually motivated by a need for power or money or fame, but in fact is driven slightly mad by some injustice, some cruelty, some unfairness, so much so that he or she is compelled by some internal moral engine to act to make it better.
There are days when I just don’t wanna. Don’t wanna get out of bed. Don’t wanna get out of pjs. Don’t wanna leave the house. Like many, I experience resistance fatigue and election exhaustion. My clients go through it. My family and friends go through it.
Those two tiny humans I referenced earlier are the other primary motivation for my activism. Protecting their wellbeing, their futures and that of all of the children on the planet, lights a fire under me. Maybe, gathered together with other peaceful warriors, we can make the earth move.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock