What the [Cuss] to Say While Suffering?

"When did you begin experiencing Writer's Block"? "After the election..." "How does that feel"?I get it. The point of therapy is to talk about our thoughts and feelings - the ones that threaten to undo us subtly, bit by bit. Breaking our resolve in increments. Or the ones that come flooding into our minds and hearts before we can even catch them. Knocking us on our asses. Forcing us to see them.But I did not want to talk about this."It sucks. Like, it literally just sucks. You can make up all kinds of philosophy about why Trump's election sucks. Sure, we are reckoning with the practices of White supremacy in new ways due to his impending office / administration. We're also reckoning with the fact that he doesn't seem to know what he is doing - in a literal sense, he doesn't seem to know what a "President" does. But no matter how many angles I take to look at this - the bottom line is that it sucks. How do I feel? I feel that it sucks... on a deep, subconscious level". I always imagine my favorite writers sitting at their desks with a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee. I imagine their well formed thoughts - sounding immediately beautiful all the page. I also know this vision is oft-times, a scam.And I thought about my friends who must address people after "the Tower" has crashed: after all of our constructions about the world we live in have been violently toppled. I thought about the friends who write and preach - who create art and engage in direct action. And I thought, "So, what the (expletive) does one say..."Especially now that the one thing I don't want to say is even the name of the newest President-to-be. I figured if his presence could be absent from my written world, perhaps I could deal with it a bit more in the material world. I also know that vision is a scam.I found my words this evening, as I reflected on a Dharma talk by Buddhist monk Ajahn Achalo (Peace Beyond Suffering). In "Waking up to Deeper Peace", he explains that the monks begin the morning chant that goes a bit like this:"Birth is suffering"Acknowledging this, he asserts, is a step toward less suffering. (I'll be reflecting on this for a GOOD while).As a note of review, I was raised in a nondenominational Christian tradition. While we had some view of suffering (especially the suffering of Jesus), there were also implications that "if we lived right" there was also a chance of circumventing this type of thing. Another popular theory in that space is our experiences of suffering were due to cosmic battles between Light & Dark. Thus, it flowed that all suffering - from cranky coworkers to cars that ran out of gas - were game to be included in the endless "tricks of the enemy (the Devil)".I moved away from these theories long ago, in my teenage years, but that doesn't mean they have left my subconscious. So, I battled with my thoughts: What in the literal and figurative heavens were the Deities DOING? I heard many theories on that question in the weeks that followed. Some were okay. Some, I understood and believed ('cause no one can tell me that White supremacy isn't demonic). Others were... well...https://www.facebook.com/terrynredd/posts/10112075497238624There is immense pressure to explain away why things happen the way they do. On both a spiritual / cosmic level. And on a material level. To a large degree, I appreciate this. Let's be clear: I spent a good amount of time constructing a theory of my own work that is based on Critical Race Theory and sociological concepts. In that respect, I can tell you precisely why this happened - this upswing of fuckery...Yet, as I reflected on the dharma talk I realized that right now, the message (for me) is to first acknowledge the suffering and the potential to suffer due to circumstances BOTH inside and outside of our control. Internally facing the fuckery that is to come is... It's brave. It readies us. It steadies us. That doesn't mean we don't fight against it. But as someone who does a lot of "addressing", I'm feeling rather done with the empty platitudes of "It's going to be okay" and "The Deities are in control". Perhaps, they are. But that does not provide me with any "today" comfort.Right now, my synopsis and synthesis is...This sucks. This present moment. Sucks.And at the same time, I'm still here. As my good friend, *Jae says, "I'm still. the fawk. here"( say it aloud until you get it :) ).My amazing friend Alicia just got back from Standing Rock, in solidarity with the Water Protectors. From the trip, she found this beautiful mural by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, in Oklahoma City, OK:So, the inhale on which I acknowledge "This sucks", becomes the exhale that "We're here". And because of this, our intentions and commitments for moving forward are important. I believe this deeply.So, I've spent some time lamenting, some time doing some deep facing-of-fears, and some time making my commitments a bit more clear. I can't say that this will help you, reader, as much as it does me - but that is my sincere hope. Join me in these commitments, if you can, and let's see what we can do together:https://www.facebook.com/terrynredd/posts/10112170791912334https://www.facebook.com/terrynredd/posts/10112170936228124?pnref=storyAnd neither are you.