Do you want to survive the end of the world?
Because I don't. I said what I said.
In order to really get into the power of birth, we have to acknowledge death as it’s fraternal twin. They are more alike than they will ever be different and we have to start being curious about the bridge we stand on as we navigate the realm of life. This to me, is apart of reconnecting to the indigenous practices of my ancestors. The people I come from (and more than likely you too), have passed down strategies and wisdom on how to survive apocalyptic times. Our DNA is intertwined with resilience and resistance because let’s be real, Indigenous and Black folks have been the center of an unending “apocalypse” for generations. We aren’t new to this, and a lot of us remain unshaken at what we bear witness to today because of the amount of trauma we’ve endured… even before we were born.
I always tell my friends that I don’t intend to survive, and even though that sounds morbid it’s the truth. We will all have to come face to face with mortality. One of my favorite scriptures is Ecclesiastes chapter 3, where it somberly expresses that there is a time and season for everything, including a time to live and a time to die. I have chosen in this moment of our history to live a life that prioritizes my desires. I have decided that capitalism, racism, and all the isms no longer get to decided who I am until I die. I will not die exhausted and full of my wildest dreams. I am choosing to live a life poured out and to quote Audre Lorde, “I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the work I still have to do. I am going to write fire until it comes out of my ears, my eyes, my nose holes,—everywhere, until it’s every breath I breathe. I am going to go out like a fucking meteor.”
We can’t control how our lives will end, and that’s really really scary. However, you can curate the life you’re living now. You can resist the machine that tells you that we are only born to be apart of it’s destructive regime. You can control learning and re-learning how to humanize the people we’ve been taught don’t deserve humanity. You can be loud about Gaza, Congo, and Sudan. You can learn how to make the world accessible for everyone. You have a lot that you can control and I want to encourage you not to lean into defeatism or exhaustion in this moment. You are your ancestors wildest dreams and as this version of our world begins to pass away, I can see clearly the early stages of pregnancy in the distance. I encourage you to practice speaking life as you bear witness to death, develop intimacy within your communities, and make room in your spirit for life to begin again.
Another banger, friend! You are on a ROLL! That Audre Lorde quote?! 👌🏾