I find myself writing excoriating responses to fluffy New-Agers on social media who are telling people to chill out. My message in most of my blog posts in the last year has been to encourage peace.  I have tried to stay away from politics here on my website and to focus on self care and gratitude.  Those are good things, of course.  However….

Now is not the time to sit back and chill out and pretend that everything is going to be OK. Nor is it the time to tell other people to sit down, shut up, get over it, and have faith in the new regime.  Hate crimes are on the rise, violence, threats of violence, bullying, and intimidation are happening around the country, in small towns and rural areas as well as big cities, in liberal areas as well as conservative sectors.  School children who are Latino are being bullied.  Kindergartners.  Women are being sexually harassed at work, and in public.  Our Muslim and our LGTBQ brothers and sisters are experiencing the same forms of terrorism that our Black and Native American brothers and sisters have been experiencing since we white people arrived in North America.  These acts of violence and terrorism are anything but OK.

Peace is not about being fluffy, passive, naive, gullible, or asleep.  Making peace is about standing up for social justice.  It is about speaking out.  It is about caring for people who are marginalized.  Our neighbors, co-workers, colleagues, our children, our grandchildren.  Ourselves.

Honor your pain.  Don’t let anyone tell you to sit down and shut up.  Don’t put up with people telling your friends and neighbors to sit down and shut up.  Keep talking, keep working, keep the cameras rolling, and stand tall.  Your anger, though possibly unpleasant to feel and difficult for others to deal with, is a real thing, and you earned it.  Yes, refrain from violence. But speak out.  Be the light of illumination. Be the voice of truth.