The sun in the sunroom streams in

 Quick, I have 15 minutes. What can I write? 

 

Last night I had a phone call with the eldest daughter of Sara, L's surrogate. E (we have the same first name!) wanted to quickly interview me about how Sara's gift of L affected our family for an assignment at college on gratitude. I was thrilled to talk to her about this pervasive theme in my life. As a follow-up today I sent her a link to the blog post her mom saw that led us to the conversation last night. 

And so, as I was gathering the link for her from the internet archives you can only find if you look, I went on a trip down memory lane to a time when I was writing here more frequently than I have been the last 6ish years. 

thankfully, my writing holds up! Phew!

Also, so much has happened in the last 6 years, I'm a bit sad I don't have a record of it.

But also, so much is happening now, and I can carve some time to write about it. 

Before my writing hiatus, the world events of Covid and subsequent lock-downs and George Floyd's death and Black Lives Matter movement were part of what were on my mind. 

And now, 6 years later, I feel like I've learned so very much that my head is still spinning and trying to make sense of so many things; maybe I'll try to tease some of them out in writing.

For example, I cannot learn enough about how insidious and complete the message of Zionism has permeated Canada and the US (and many other countries). I was even taken in! I fell for it! Someone I heard recently described it like this (paraphrased): I always knew that Israel did some bad things, but it took me a long time to see the Israel is built on bad, there was never good because it all came at the expense of others.

I have a VERY hard time when people are talking about Truth and Reconciliation here in Canada but can't connect the dots to settler colonialism in Israel/Palestine and will say things like 'well, that's different' or 'it's complicated' (two Hasbara (Israeli propoganda) talking points, by the way). It isn't different, and it isn't complicated. The story has just been told so cleverly, subtly, that these messages have pervaded our consciousness and short-circuit our critical thinking skills. IT HAPPENED TO ME TOO!

AI: W.T.F. These tech bros want to bring about the end of the earth, trade billions of dollars back and forth to build something that masquerades as convenient but is actually robbing us of our thinking and creativity and humanity. 

Legacy Media: when Covid was new and people were reacting to restrictions (many of which were ridiculous! for real!) in all kinds of side-ways ways, I scoffed at the idea that 'mainstream media' was lying to everyone. I mean, they weren't lying about vaccines, or covid, and I don't know that they 'lie' now, but YIKES am I way more aware of the ways that legacy media (you could also say 'corporate media') fails us by failing to provide full context (why doesn't every AI story link to their absolutely bananas financial situation???), caves to the Zionist lobby more than it doesn't, upholds white supremacy and 'normal' every chance it gets, platforms experts with honest domain knowledge alongside a random person who disagrees to 'get both sides' without making it clear that one side has evidence, research, and expertise behind it and one side is just mad for some reason. 

Some would say that the internet has 'radicalized me'. Maybe. 

To that I say several things.

1. When we know better, we should do better (Maya Angelou)

2. Since when is kindness and a desire to fix inequity 'radical'

3. Taking a stand on what is morally right, on what heals and doesn't hurt, is not radical.  

4. I have ADHD, and honestly, that explains so much. More on that later. 

 

I have to get the kids now. Maybe I'll publish, maybe I'll share. Maybe I won't! We'll see.

 Feels good to write, regardless.