What do I stand for?

What do I stand for?

The Pen

Which has been mightier than the sword

Since the beginning of time

Is my power

Is my strength

Is what I shall pick up 

Here in our time of need

I stand with

The Weapons of Love

The Weapons of Creativity

The Weapons of a Writer

The Weapons of a top notch Dreamer

I stand for

Black Lives Matter

Hispanic/Latinx Lives Matter

Asian Lives Matter

Native American Lives Matter

Flesh Of My Flesh

Muslim Lives Matter

Hindu Lives Matter

Jewish Lives Matter

Bone Of My Bone

Immigrant Lives Matter

LGBTQA Lives Matter

Refugee Lives Matter

Woman Lives Matter

Blood Of My Blood

I take this pen

I take these words

I take my story

And dedicate them 

To fighting for Justice and Love

Join Me

Join Me

Join Me

You Shall Not Stop Me

I will write #NonStop on Love

I will write #NonStop on Justice

I will write #NonStop on Compassion

This is where I stand

This shall be my legacy

This is how I write myself into the story

Those standing with me

On the side of Justice and Love and Compassion

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You

Those standing before me

I suggest you move

Or you will find exacly how sharp a pen can be

I will make Hamilton's pen
Seem dull and slow
In comparison

Hope in three stories

It was the 1970's and my future congregation wanted a women pastor. We asked for one and were told "Nope, that would be too hard to do". We went "That was not a suggestion". We refused to pay. We had a lock-in. We protested long and hard enough that finally the regional church leadership called uncle and sent a woman. And today church leadership still remembers. As new issues have come up, when they find themselves between us and justice, they step aside because they are a bit afraid of what we can do.

It was the 2000's and a popular priest on the south side of Chicago who was known for rabble-rousing for justice was told "So move along, get along, Move along, get along, Go! Move! Shift!". And the priest said No. He is still in his congregation working on issues such as Gun Violence and Drugs and Community Safety.

It was the 2000's and a congregation in Chicago housed a woman and her child for a whole year within the church to protect them from deportation as a modern day continuation of the Sanctuary movement from the 1980's.

I share the above stories because last weekend I promised family members that I would make them feel better not matter the outcome of the election. 

I believe that the above stories show that while hate can be supported. hate can be legalized, hate can be normalized. Love is always stronger and No one can force us to hate. Let's build communities like my congregation where those on the wrong side of Justice and Love are a bit afraid and leave us be.

Now I am not bragging per say but in the past 4 days, I have found multiple ways to be on the side of Justice and Love. 

• I have donated to 6 different charities
• I have written anonymous notes saying "Know you are Loved. Let others know they are Loved, Fill the world with creativity, justice, compassion and Love" which I left for every department at my place of employment, 
• I also handed out these notes at various restaurants I have gone too, to CTA employees, to Theater Volunteers ....)
• As I walked home from downtown I danced to a street corner marching band and was honest and said: "I don't have anything to donate right now but can I give you a Hug" and gave all 5 members a Hug.
• Later in my walk I ran into someone collecting for charity and I gave them a hug too
• I ate dinner at a Family Run Mediterranean Restaurant, using my money to support communities I care about.  
• I wrote a letter to my faith traditions regional leadership calling them out for not speaking to the pain and fear that so many are feeling right now as a result of the election.
• I am finding ways to use my pen as a weapon for Justice and Love (see my next blog post)

I hope these give you ideas on how to be on the side of Justice and Love Too. While hate is a large multii-tentacle creature acts of Love can be small but meaningful. This is good news which should make us all feel better. Now go out and Love

Yes Indeed, You Are A Writer, Yes You.

A Lin-Manuel Tweet from September

For many writers the month of November means NaNoWriMo. A month-long writing challenge. 

I am not participating this year, (I seem to participate every other year), because I am working on multiple writing projects and word count is a poor metric right now for me to use. 

But I love the idea of NaNoWriMo, and it is cool to have a novel draft, or a novella draft, completed in a month. The key to NaNoWriMo is to simply write without editing or second guessing your word choices.

On the other hand, NaNoWriMo can be daunting. It is important to remember that while 50,000 words is the goal, any writing you write is a victory.   

In light of NaNoWriMo, this is a time of year filled with posts about  NaNoWriMo, and writing in general.

One I found particularly interesting is:

  

"NaNoWriMo and looking at some terrible advice" by Mary Robinette Kowal

I love her wisdom around some of the common writing advice given

Write Every Day

Being a writer, or being anything else , means you have to pay attention to self-care. Sometimes for a variety of personal, work, or societal reasons you just can't write for a period of time. And yes you may Feel like a failure (I often do), but YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE.

A Writer Writes

I find what I write and how much I write varries a lot. Sometimes I write all the time. Sometimes I take long periods off either because I don't have ideas or more often because life means I don't have time to write. No matter what obstacles come up, which keep you from writing, you shall aways be a writer. "They can't take that away from (you)". 

You must submit your fiction

Personally, I love this distinction between "writer" and "author". There have definitely been times where others described me as a writer and I have felt the shock of imposter syndrome. But using these definitions I am clearly a writer, because I write. 

So as this post is titled "Yes Indeed, You Are A Writer, Yes You.". Go forth and write. Go forth and tell your story. Go forth and celebrate that you are a writer.