Today is hard. Right now, this moment feels like the “too” in too much. We were already reeling, weren’t we? The pandemic caught us on our heels and there we’ve been for the past six months, rocking back and forth above the precipice, flailing our arms about, trying not to fall while also thinking it might be nice to give gravity what it wants.
We never did get our feet set, but we found an uncomfortable balance. The situation is tentative. We’ve come to expect tragedy and pain. We let it hit us, vicious body blows that take our breath away and force us to put all our hope in a foot, that one foot, maybe just the tiniest bit of skin on a heal still touching solid ground.
If you’re reading this, then that little patch of cells held firm. You’re still here which means you still have the ability to fight.
Today is hard and terrifying and scary and empty and cold and ruthless and unkind. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG. Damn. She was so much to so many, a woman who elbowed her way into a man’s world. Those magical, ever-expanding elbows that pushed and pushed and created room for others. We’ve lost an icon, maybe even a symbol of hope. You lost something deeply personal, didn’t you? For that I am sorry. You loved someone you probably never met. It didn’t matter, did it? You knew RBG better than I ever could.
Grieve. Grieve today and tomorrow and for as long as you need. When you’re ready, resurrect your inner RBG (whoever that might be). Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a person. RBG is an idea. There are many RBGs in this word. Find your music. Let the soundtrack move you, give you goosebumps and make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. And yes, maybe this is a little sappy. Who cares? Inspiration is a spark. You are the unlit flame.
Burn.
Brightly.
Light the way.
Today is hard, but tomorrow? No one knows about tomorrow. It may seem like the future is set — it isn’t. Today we grieve, tomorrow we fight. And not just for ourselves. I worry for my two little boys who will grow up in a world on fire. They are my music. And what about my wife, my female friends, my Black and brown friends, my LGTBQ+ friends, my friend the refugee, and my friends who can’t afford health insurance? They are my music too. Do you hear them? What about you? No matter who you hear, they’re all singing the same song.
Here are the lyrics:
Fight like hell.
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