I recently had the privilege of a retreat with some of the most innovative, motivated and motivating activists that I have met. …a carefully chosen cross-section of ages and orientations and cultures. I was humbled and inspired, and at times caught up in a heady sense of possibility in a very troubled world. At other times, listening below the hope narratives, I reached into an obscured well of power that gives chosen actions and words the weight and precision that are now needed. I had to leave early on the last morning to catch a ferry. On the way out, the convener asked if I had anything I wanted to say. I turned back from the door, took a quiet breath, and something like this came out. “What if we could change the world simply by the pace in which we live?” I meant the depth and rhythm of my full breath, commitment to sleep, driving the speed limit, scheduling space between stuff because space matters equally, a decisive cap on social media stimulation, silence before speaking for as long as it takes for the words to collect. Sometimes I can almost feel the world changing course when I deliberately refuse the dominant speed. Refusal is a warrior move. Precision born of right rhythm leverages our actions, words and choices. When we originate in silence, we join the amplitude of the Earth, and the beat of the heart. From this place of deep connection, our voice is clear and true. We speak out for things of importance and keep still when there is nothing to say. This photo means a lot to me, in a world of violent disregard for our earth and for the earth of women’s bodies…for the muting of many voices.

This Sunday’s missive is dedicated to deliberate space cleared for deep listening and heightened regard for life.

In Solidarity,

Barbara (and Peri)