I mostly grew up in Los Angeles, and certainly was shaped by California culture there and in Northern California as well. I celebrated my birthday on Malibu beach, went dancing up in Topanga at the Topanga Corral, hung out at Alice's Restaurant on Malibu pier, skated on the Santa Monica boardwalk. My mother grew up in Pasadena, and always talked about the Rose Parade there. My grandmother on my mother's side grew up in what is now MacArthur Park in downtown L.A., a very fashionable neighborhood at the turn of the Century. Her mother lived there too.
I sit here in a state of shock, to see Los Angeles burning. So much suffering, so many people who have lost their homes, so many animals and wildlife suffering also, such devastation. I don't know what to do. What can I do?
It seems like things are falling apart rapidly. In my previous post I shared Laurie Anderson's powerful "The Barbarians Are Coming" because, well, they are here. The American experiment in democracy, from my point of view, is being deconstructed into an authoritarian oligarchy right before our eyes, televised. Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and Trump rants and blames from his golf resort while Los Angeles burns. It seems the omens are not good as this reality star "leader" prepares to be inaugurated. Catastrophic fires in L.A. Monster hurricanes in the South. Mass killing in New Orleans. Hard times, and right now, many of us stand in shock, unable to go forward. The Barbarians are in Washington, blindly chanting "drill, baby, drill", and Mother Gaia is raging because the planet is changing.
I've tried to mostly make this Blog about Art and Women's Spirituality, but I find political and environmental realities overwhelm my thoughts these days. Art, and the Return of the Divine Feminine are not apart from those realities, indeed, Patriarchy has something to do with it. But today, as L.A. burns, I am deeply saddened, and deeply frightened, and mostly incoherant.
Here is a passionate voice from a man who knows what he's talking about. I want to share it, because it's not only important what he has to say, but it's the truth. America, wake up. Please, wake up.
