There Are More of Us

While I was handing out “No Transmission Corridor” flyers, I learned again the adage, ‘There are more of us’. The majority of folks didn’t know about Dairyland’s proposal to bring what would be the highest transmission line in Wisconsin through the Driftless, but they were glad to find out, and thanked me for letting them know.

There were a few who didn’t care, but they learned something that will hopefully be nagging at them as they drive through our precious landscapes. And of course there were the very, very few who weren’t opposed to it – not for it, but not opposed to it. They’re the ones who don’t court independent thinking and are content not rocking the boat. But nonetheless, there it was again – that sweet knowing that we are the majority. 

We, the ones who care, the ones just waiting for that precious piece of knowledge and inclusion that allows us to stand for something. The ones who are still capable of feeling dignity and who love the earth unquestioningly. 

Corporate media has done a great job keeping us placated and ignorant. We’ve been fed lies about what is necessary and what is progress for decades. We’ve been told what is inevitable and have lost our clarity and our voice in the process. 

But now as we witness lies exposed, as we learn of neighbors viciously stripped from families and communities, as we see the extend the powerful will go to hide the grooming and raping of children, and as our earth is rocked by extraction, we are also witness to the rise of this: There are more of us. And I say bring it on.

Use time wisely. Look for people who want to know. Let’s widen the circle of our humanity with those who are waiting to be invited.

AND IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

“Another packed night, with probably over 600 people coming out in Charlotte, NC to be trained to join the safety patrols who are fanning out across the city each day to make sure that everyone can get to work and school safely… and home again at night. 
Every night, hundreds more people come out to find out how to plug in. 
And while CBP and ICE expanded their operations to other cities, so did we.” – Gwen Frisbie – Fulton

Read about the COP30 Climate Summit with over 1,000 Indigenous people registered for the event and their impact.

Survivors speak out in this video: World Without Exploitation. Bring abuse out of the shadows.

And learn more how to protect the Driftless:

Choose to Defiantly Live

I watched a fly caught in a web. It was very much alive, but as it squirmed the tighter the web grew. It was easy to see its black body against the white ceiling. Then I could see the thin frame of a spider making its way to the captive. The fly became even more frantic spiraling and spinning wildly. Impressed at its willingness not to die, I wondered if I should give aid. And then another spider began to move in. Recognizing its determination to live, I attempted to free the fly, but it was out of reach. As the two approaching spiders neared their prey, the fly broke free and catapulted down. I couldn’t see where it landed, and I am pretty sure it would be difficult to unweave the binding web. But I cheered for the sheer gumption displayed and the determination I witnessed. And then I realized I appreciated this defiant will to live because it is within me, within all of us. 

Some of us die in increments, leaving bits of ourselves to decay in full view and forsaking the gift of life to the torments of living. We admire the courage to live in others, but do we ever acknowledge this will, this strength in ourselves? Do we accept this gift of will, or do we squander it?

Some of us die by compromise. Piece by piece we give ourselves away, never knowing the preciousness of the time we are given.  Never accepting the power of our uniqueness. Never truly living.

We carry seeds of hope, clarity, courage and humanity necessary to the whole of us. If only we would choose to defiantly live and escape the bondages that hold us. 

Accept the power of being alive. There is freedom in that. 

photo Dewy spider web: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en