The Bridge #60
new seasons
Hello
& Welcome to 2023 😀
The Bridge #59 (sent out in 2022) was a near-repeat of #37, which some had read and some hadn't, so figured it worth repeating.
Interestingly, no one called out the repetition but a good number of you enjoyed the "easter egg." (Treasure hunts are fun, right? I think I might lean into that again later ...)
Either way, though our thoughts may wander, if we stay kind with ourselves -- and our meandering thoughts -- we end up with something better than we started with, whether we realize or not. So in this new year, as with every year, stay kind to yourself.
& if you need repeat something, in order to remember it better, then here's...
Something to Consider
When stuck
Or feeling knotty
-- though one might be tempted to unslither --
Wait!
For just a moment
Longer
The longer
You wait
The wider
You grow
(or at least, your point of view
Grows
Wider,
& especially when
You've talked it over
With several friends
& strangers).
The season will pass,
If you wait,
Which is better than
Staying in the same place,
So you see?
You're never really stuck
Because time will pass
Whether you struggle
Or you wait.
& then you're free.
See?
Something to Ponder
How to Talk about Drugs (Are We Europe)
This small multimedia news team is by far my favorite of any I have yet encountered. Are We Europe is supported by a freelance community, highly inclusive of diverse voices. Their goal is to share such a range of points of view that we feel more united in our humanity while truly seen for our differences.
So their journalism is primarily exploratory testing the boundaries of what we might think and feel, when pondering the difference between (for example, for this recent issue) vices and virtues, legal and illegal drugs, users and abusers. One good starting point, when talking about drugs, is to avoid creating artificial distance between "addicts" (who "lack willpower") and "us" who are clearly not addicted. 😉
Rather, when we admit we are all addicted to something at any given point in time and the broken systems in our society are a major contributor to that problem -- especially when addictions worsen -- when we share the burden with one another, we make things better and our systems improve. We can lighten the burden when we talk about our addiction(s).
Something to Dance To
One of the first songs shared in my as-then-not-yet-named-newsletter was "Brown Skin Girl" because my family had the song spinning on repeat during most of spring 2020. We really liked the song. We really liked the message. We did not know....
The Afrobeats collaboration was part of a larger album Beyonce co-created called The Lion King: The Gift. She released the album alongside the photorealistic film remake of The Lion King in the summer of 2019. In summer 2020, Beyonce released a film Black is King based on her collaborative music album and restoring true African pride to The Lion King story. Disney ended up negotiating to release the film that Beyonce's team researched and released, a pretty inspiring story. The film I mean, it's an inspiring story (how it came together and the story it tells). You knew all that? Well, it was news to me.
Feel free to listen (or re-listen) to the musical celebration "Brown Skin Girl" on your favorite music streaming platform, CD, vinyl OR via the youtube link above.
Something For Friends
Thanks to all those humans -- you included -- doing or making something creative with the lives they are gifted. Creativity inspires creativity. (perhaps that merits repeating over and over and over.)
Same skin that was broken /
Be the same skin taking over /
Most things out of focus view /
When you're in the room /
They notice you /
Cause you're beautiful /
JPC