I'm awake

I wrote to a radio station I have been a loyal listener and financial supporter of for over a decade.  I was furious about the dismissive and demeaning way they characterized the women's march on Saturday.

I'm waiting for their response.

But in the writing of it, in the seeing of hundreds of thousands of fellow humans marching around the world I was remind that it is beyond time to start acting on my values again. 

I have been guilty of allowing a certain apathy to creep into my Canadian 1% life.  

I've become so tolerant - prepared to look at multiple perspectives, consider other ways, thoughts, actions.  

I've allowed the insidious lie that my words or actions won't change anything to gain a comfy spot in my brain.

My apathetic tolerance was laudable only for its complete lack of backbone or difference-making.

Well - I am now emerging from this grey-pleasant-bland-world and I am back to not only drawing lines in the sand but acting when they are breached.

I know many of us are in an exhausted fog trying to understand what the actual heck happened in Washington on Friday and in the USA generally in the last few months.

And not only in the political arena but between regular people, friends, families...

The hate, the division, the refusal to consider other perspectives,  the use of religion to justify extreme behaviour.

There have been some funny memes, some of us have been in disbelief, or holding on to tenuous hope that things wouldn't be so bad.

Well shucks.  

Things are bad.  

"Alternative facts" - my brain is literally tired from trying to understand.  

Maybe it's not understandable.  

Maybe it's not me. 

But ...I can't shake the feeling...the truth...that it IS me.  

It is up to me to say my piece, do my piece, stand and speak for those who can't.

I have been quiet, politically correct (or as PC as I have ever been).

My brothers and sisters across this world stood up, put on their shoes and marched.... millions of them.  

But that was Saturday.  

What about today? 

Today I stood up to the comment that "the women marched because they needed something to do while the men were watching football".

And I am going to stand up every damn day that there is racism and sexism and all the other isms.  

I will most especially speak and act against those who think recent events give license to speak hate, leaflet hate, post hate, behave hatefully. 

I will likely skew the stereotype of a "Nice Canadian" - sorrynotsorry.

God gave me a heart, an intellect, a conscience and I am pretty sure He expected me to use it - for good, for the building UP of others, for Justice and Mercy 

and Peace.

And Love.

I'm awake.  I am ready. 

I'm going to speak, do, sing, march, write, dance, shout my part in Love winning in 2017 and beyond.