Too little

A section of a recent interview of writer, sociologist and MacArthur Fellow, Tessie McMillan Cotton, from my viewpoint, went viral. I’ll paraphrase the clip of the interview. Professor McMillan Cotton noted that many people are feeling fatigued about the state of the world, the state of their country, the state of their state, the state of their neighborhood. They are tired. And she offered, for some, the reason they are so tired isn’t  because they are doing too much, but because they are doing too little. Doom scrolling and passive observation can get our amygdala fired up into fight, flight, freeze, fawn mode, fill our bodies with cortisol and make our bodies feel run down, after having done…nothing. Many people are indeed not doing much to contribute to making the world a better place, and have swapped meaningful action with ersatz screentime and are suffering from fatigue with nothing to show for it. Professor McMillan Cotton suggests for those specifically suffering from that kind of tiredness and fatigue, the answer is to actually be involved: call elected officials, volunteer in the areas that are making you feel the worst—hunger, homelessness, if you are afraid for children, become a mentor or teach kids how to read. By taking action, you have the opportunity to shift from passive malaise to purpose; to being needed, to realize a path you can take to make change.

Do More

As a lifelong social justice activist and volunteer, I agree. I actually don’t think I could agree more. But I will try. I will try to agree more by doing more myself. And, in doing more, I commit to encouraging those around me, those of you reading my work, who want to do something and for those who are already doing more, to do more. To your degree; always, and without excuses and without excoriation of what you have or have not done already. See, I already do a lot, and I know I do a lot. I say that without ego and I say it without faux humility and I say it without working to shame anyone. People can shame themselves without my help. Shame and excoriation wastes time, and this Capricorn from New England does not like to waste time. Without baggage, as of late, I have felt I can and want to do more, and maybe you do, too. We get to decide for ourselves.

And…I love a good journey. I love a good story. I love exploring and learning. I love art in all forms. And I’m an extra-extravert. So what that means is, in my pursuit to do more, I make an invitation to all of you to actively participate with me. Pick up anything from me I am offering that you need or want. Put down some things for me to pick up and weave, stamp, adhere, cure, sew and sow into this pursuit, this journey offering and invitation.

Introducing a writing photo project

Over the course of many months, an idea in my mind’s eye began to take shape, coming into focus because of moments in my life: Professor McMillan Cotton’s words, my recent trip to the Legacy Sites in Montgomery, the upcoming commemorative Black and Women’s History months, reflections of my childhood and coming of age years, my friendships, my existing writing, my anger and power that I’ve applied to my current lived moment and the hardships that are around all of us. I’m excited to share this idea with you; an idea that has evolved into a full photo writing project. And through this project, I’m excited to be tired; for you to be tired because you’ve taken action, or because you’ve taken more action.

For my photo writing project, over the course of February, each day I am going to post across social media platforms. You can find these posts on my personal blog, my personal instagram (in private mode) and I am working closely with Food Recovery Network to provide a weekly FRN-focused synopsis of the posts that most relate to our vision to recover surplus food to feed everyone who is hungry on my FRN Substack.

My photo-writing project is titled You Talk About Race Too Much, and it’s an offering to you.