Hey friends, do you have the capacity to share space with me? I’m going to get profound and radical. Is that cool with you?
THE WORLD IS A WILD PLACE RIGHT NOW
I wish I could come to all of you with better news, but I feel hopeless. The more bloodshed, the more greed, the more outright genocide, the less I believe in the society in which I live and participate. The news outlets, the elites, and the people in power will say that Israel is justified in their retaliation. However, this is an outright lie, and we all know it.
Those of us who have known occupation, colonization, and genocide in our blood, in our families, and in our generational trauma see the game the United States is playing alongside Israel and other colonizers like Britain. What’s happening is clear as day. Israel has been stealing land from the Palestinians and attempting to destroy them as a people, but they will never cease to exist; Palestine will live on forever, no matter what. That is just the worst example of today’s wrongdoings. There are many wars, occupations, and exploitations of entire countries happening right now because people steal natural land resources for their benefit to profit for their greedy causes instead of sharing the wealth of the communities in which these resources are located.
I’m just so tired of it, aren’t you? I’m tired of people abusing power, exploiting others for money, and greedily hoarding the world’s precious natural resources. It’s giving Hunger Games, and I’m ready to join the fight like District 12. (I didn’t read that book.)
However hopeful I may be for a good and just world, there are many times I let my hopelessness win. On those days, I’m detached, out of the world, and tending to my garden in solitude and rest. The people I loved most in life left me wounded in ways I care not to elaborate on, and it’s hard for me to tolerate the world at large, even with no wars or genocides. But I recently heard Ghost Of A Podcast “Episode 409: How to Show Up in Revolutionary Times,” where Jessica Lanyadoo discussed having hope for the future even when you feel like all is doomed. She called it ✨ radical optimism ✨. And I’ve been hanging onto that phrase like a lifeline to keep me out of my hopelessness holes.
Transitioning our society from one based on greed and abuse of power to one where we can all live and benefit requires radical optimism. It requires thinking of new ways of doing the things we love, a mindset shift, people showing up, authenticity, and so much more—all of which require radical thinking. It is not so much about building machinery or using the Earth’s resources, but it is a way to shift back into gentler ways of life and heal the harm we’ve done to the planet. It requires removing harmful capitalist practices and giving the land back to indigenous leaders. IMO, these are the kinds of radical changes we should work toward in our lifetime. And there are so many individuals who are currently doing this work, but we need more people to participate less in capitalist, patriarchal, and racist systems, mindsets, and practices.
THINGS ARE GOING TO GET WEIRDER
Challenging tradition, the old ways, and systems so you can create new traditions and systems requires a belief in radical optimism. When you inevitably face pushback for making sense of how life can be so much better for all of us 99%, hang onto radical optimism because people in power won’t release power unwillingly. There will be friction, and it will be uncomfortable, but that’s when real change happens. Inevitably, we’ll adapt to our new circumstances and learn new ways of doing things, like when we shut everything down during the pandemic. We adapted. It was difficult; we are still losing a lot of beautiful souls to this virus, but a lot of us are still here and live radically different lives than we did before March 13, 2020. Humans adapt to survive; we adapt to survive.
What we learned during that time was that the government’s best interest was money, and that was apparent when people lost their jobs, their whole ass lives and wealthy people did not show up to empathize with anyone; in fact, the richest people in the world grew even more prosperous during the pandemic. Again, I’ll remind you, people lost their whole ass jobs, restaurants closed, businesses shut down, and families were homeless. And the rich got richer.
What in the actual f*ck is going on here?
Do you know what place had the answers to that question? I’ll give you two hints: it’s a digital place, and the US Congress recently voted to ban it. If you guessed TikTok, then you’re on the money, honey! People went to TikTok to expose the truth, expose people. We all learned the unfiltered truth about so much shady shit people in power are responsible for. If there’s one thing Scorpios love, it’s the cold, hard truth, no chaser. We want the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
PLUTO IN SCORPIO MILLENNIALS ARE EXPOSING THE TRUTH
People born between 1983 and 1995 are born with their Pluto in Scorpio, and technically, you’re a millennial. You’re like me. We’re dying to get to the bottom of the well, the one ridden with secrets, shame, and lies, because we want to expose and eliminate them. We’re tired of all the cover-ups and lies from the people in power. We’re tired of working for someone who reciprocates a different energy. We’re tired of giving without being taken care of in return. We’re tired of being exploited and told we’re spoiled. Millennials are tired of this society, and we’re going to expose all the BS lies we’ve been force-fed, like the 40-hour work week and college loans. We will let up once real positive change happens, and this mentality applies to many aspects of our relationships, families, and communities. We’re learning to hold people accountable out loud so that these wrongdoings may not be repeated and tolerated any longer, and we’re not tolerating harm against humanity anymore. Our siblings, our children, our siblings’ children, and everyone born after us are watching what we’re doing and what we’re saying (or not doing and saying), and whether we’re ready or not, they’re prepared to usher the way for change.
We require radical change, period. That’s the message.
HOW CAN WE CREATE MEANINGFUL CHANGE?
Whether we get there or not depends on you, me, us. Depends on all of us to cooperate and work together in harmony to achieve a peaceful and comfortable existence while still giving back to Mother Earth. We must believe that this radical change is possible and worth having in our lifetime. We must believe we can accomplish the goals we set out in our quests for radical liberation, whether organizing community collectives, new ways of doing commerce, living sustainably, divesting from corporate greed, decolonizing your everyday life–this change is worth having radical optimism. For you, for your children, for your children’s children. For all of us. We must actually accomplish these goals and build new systems.
I’m not saying we need to start a revolution. No, no, no—maybe—I don’t know. I’ve always been more of a lover than a fighter, TBH. I am saying that we need to stop supporting these 1%ers with our resources, give back to planet Earth, find new ways of doing things we love, like shopping.
In 2011, I moved to Arcata and saw a demonstration of hand-painted signs, all of which said “CORPS ARE NOT PEEPS.” It was a protest against a corporation trying to build their business in town, but the locals said, “HELL NO!” Their reasoning was simple: Corporations don’t take care of people. Corporations are not people. Corporations are entities whose primary interest is meeting sales goals by whatever means necessary. This often comes at the employee’s expense and is fueled by consumerism, the same consumerism that you and I have the power to drive. By paying attention to what we consume or buy, we can make better decisions about what we’re willing to tolerate from these rich and powerful fulanitos. Again, I’m not saying revolution, but radical change.
Don’t trip, friends; we’re in this together. Our new systems and processes will not leave anyone behind; we’d like to build towards inclusivity for all, unlike Chevron and McDonald’s, which are supporting genocide, and the Israeli Caucus Group, who are indirectly/directly supporting this genocide as well, and the entire US government who is using our tax dollars to fund this genocide. What was that word again? Ahh, yes. Radical optimism.
How can we change our everyday habits to create a better world? I’ve seen many TikTok videos about diverting our funds away from big corporations and into local businesses. We’re boycotting companies, as has been going on with Starbucks. The US government forbids companies from boycotting Israel, so we really need to drive our message home.
Let’s not play this capitalism game anymore. Let’s remove ourselves from supporting this toxic lifestyle. No, let’s not eat cereal for dinner because we can’t afford anything else–let it be because we love that poisonous sugary shit. Unfollow the celebrities, stop worshipping these rich people, and start voting with your dollar. Don’t let others influence you to buy shit you don’t need. Trust me, you probably don’t need it. And if you do, here’s a list of brands you should not support.
Don’t stop there – don’t buy products from companies that test on animals, that support racial discrimination and injustice, that support classist ideals, or that enable toxic behavior to persist. Let’s demand change by creating these changes with our everyday habits.
If we invest in little radical changes like this, we might find ourselves on the other side of a revolution. I know we all yearn for brighter days, better treatment of animals, better treatment of the lands we live on, and better treatment of each other. How can one not yearn for love in this way? I refuse to believe we cannot thrive living by a love ethic because we can and will. I know it; I can feel it in my bones, can’t you?
We’re not perfect, this doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t stress when you don’t notice changes. Count the small victories; it’s the small changes that sometimes make the biggest impact. It’s habitual, so you might have to learn a lot about living a more conscious lifestyle. It’s okay to start small and build from there. Before you know it, you’re going to the baddest baddie living the raddiest lifestyle.
I love that for you 😻 Tbh, it’s goals.
I’m actually not even fully divested from big corporate companies myself. Everyday it seems i’m learning that the brands I loved are now owned by multi-millionaires who are funding or complicit in this genocide against Palestinians. (I once was a Starbeez girlie, too ☹️).
I also work for a company that supports fast fashion and brands that support this genocide. These things do not sit well with me, I can’t work in a money-driven environment like that. It just doesn’t align with me anymore. I want to work somewhere and give my energy to a workplace that takes a stand with humanity and leads with compassion in everything they say and do.
Life feels so uncertain right now, not because I think there might be more wars or I think the government is going to collapse, but because I FEEL everyone’s energy. Everyone is uncertain about the president campaign. Who else feels as detached as I do to this country’s politics? This is the first year I did not vote and that means something. Many of us feel like we’ve been in an abusive relationship with this country our whole lives and we’re fed up. We don’t want to participate in this charade anymore. It’s over–it’s done. But how do we break up with a country?
Some of us can’t up and move and some of us won’t up and move unless absolutely necessary. So, what’s the other alternative?
We try and make it work by righting our wrongs, making amends, and building a new path forward. This is possible.
So friends, that’s what I wanted to share with you; thank you for holding space for me and for doing the radical work I know you’re doing or going to do.
Sending mucho amor to all my amores y todos los revolutionaries that are making small changes for big impacts. I’ll see y’all around! Stay pushing and stay trucha.
Nikki
Side note: I was going to edit the paragraph structure and identify any gaps using Grammarly’s help, but they can’t edit this entire document because it contains “sensitive information.” They checked it for plagiarism, but apparently A.I. can’t help with the document if it contains “sensitive information.” I don’t know what that means, but I find that very, very interesting. 🤔
the bookish b* 