Why are we here? That is a question I ask myself a lot. What are we doing with our time here? How are we building a better world? I just finished the memoir, Shrill – Notes from a Loud Woman, from Lindy West, who, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know. She was featured on This American Life, she wrote for Jezebel, she worked with Dan Savage and she now is the culture writer for GQ (which, honestly, as a super feminist, I think is a little odd – but what do I know about her path?). She asks this question and her answer is kind of brilliant.
“I think the most important thing I do in my professional life today is delivering public, impermeable “no”s and sticking to them. I say no to people who prioritize being cool over being good. I say no to misogynists who want to weaponize my body against me. I say no to men you feel entitled to my attention and reverence, who treat everyone the light touches as a resource for them to burn. I say not to religious zealots who insisted I am less important than an embryo. I say no to my own instinct to stay quiet…
It’s a way of kicking down the boundaries that society has set for women – be compliant, be a caregiver, be quiet and erecting my own. I will do this; I will not do that. You believe in my subjugation; I don’t have to be nice to you. I am busy; my time is not a public commodity. You are boring; go away.
That is world-building…
Voting is world-building. So is kindness, compassion, listening, making space, saying yes, saying no.
We’re all boiling our world, right now, in real time. Let’s build it better.”
The whole thing is amazing. Go read it. (Eureka Springs people it is in the library!)
What World Are You Building?
Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of people blame other people for the woes in their lives (we aren’t talking about real woes like #blacklivesmatter) – we are talking about “it just isn’t how it used to be or how I want it to be” kind of woes. I’ve also been listening to people complain about every. single. thing. around them. Constant. They are spinning in negativity and like when you were a kid and used the Spin Art toy (was that what is was called in the 70’s) that negativity is spiraling out in big splats and blotches into your world. You are spreading negativity splat by splat.
There is one thing to call something out and then live that truth – Like Lindy has done for abortion, fat shaming, and rape culture in comedy, but (there is always a but) if you are just grinding on the same old negative stories from now and the past you are going nowhere and nothing is going to change.
Sure. Life sucks. Tell that to my mom (RIP, Poppy) who lived through the depression eating oatmeal for every meal for 3 years. I’m not kidding. Her life sucked, but she saw that suckage and she did something about it. She fought to go to college, she lived her creativity, she battled her mental illness because just sitting around complaining about (which she did, she wasn’t perfect) wasn’t going to change damn thing. I include this because our idea of sucks – no wifi, airplane is late, tourists are loud, I had to wait in line… seem so trivial.
Here’s What I Know About Building a Better World
We have a only a little bit of time in this world and I am going to make sure that I not only do all I can to build it better, but I am going to surround myself with people who are compelled to do the same thing. Life is too short for me to listen to you bitch. Do you have a solution? Let’s do it! Do you want to work on an idea and make it happen? Let’s do it. Do you want to dig yourself out of your spinning hole and just need a hand – I’m there.
Life is too short for me to listen to you bitch. #DoGoodWork
Click To Tweet
I also know that I have an amazing life and you probably do to if you are reading this. I live a life of relative ease. I work hard because I love it. I live in a beautiful place. I have a loving family who makes my heart sing. My friends hold me close. Life hasn’t been easy, but I’ve been flexible and able to figure out a path that seems to be working. I’m lucky and I’m hardworking. I am also focused on what is possible. I can name what is wrong and I can see what the world will look like when that wrong changes. I’m like the damn song Imagine.
Any moment I forget all of that I am wasting precious moments. When I remember the place my feet are planted – where I am grounded – I can make change happen, I can make a difference, I can build a better world. Let’s do this.
The post Let’s Build a Better World appeared first on Jacqueline Wolven.