Dear President Trump, I once knew someone who had the habit of suddenly falling asleep whenever she was asked a challenging question. It was pretty amazing to watch this primitive avoidance behavior happen. It was like clockwork; challenge => eyes closed and snoring. When I saw that you flippantly told reporters you fell asleep watching … Continue reading We have to show up
Divisiveness
May we make peace to honor those we love
Dear President Trump, This morning we did some de-cluttering. Laura says she just wants to do it now and again because it needs to be done (which is true), but I think she really enjoys it (which is fine). The stacks of books and papers on the dining room table are now smaller and more … Continue reading May we make peace to honor those we love
Cowardly abuses of power
Dear President Trump, You will no doubt dismiss the new WP-ABC poll numbers as so much fake news, but I’m sure you are studying them carefully to figure out how to best calibrate the next round of divisive fear mongering. As usual, people of color are the canaries in the coalmine in that over 80% … Continue reading Cowardly abuses of power
Cynical and slick
Dear President Trump, Who is feeding you instructions? Is Steven Miller whispering in your ear? Or Steve Bannon from afar? Or maybe Vladimir P from further afar? Have they formed a boy band to make sure you hear the same message no matter which way you turn? I know you’re capable of coming up with … Continue reading Cynical and slick
John McCain’s gift
Dear President Trump, A little while back I wrote to you about the virtues of leading with love. It’s been abundantly clear you’ve not heeded the message and I don’t think it’s just because you missed that letter. You had such a great opportunity to pretend to be a magnanimous leader in how you chose … Continue reading John McCain’s gift
Cornerstone of kindness
Dear President Trump, Sometimes it really doesn’t work to try to cheer oneself up with a platitude like “ this too shall pass” or “just hang in, it’ll be ok.” You may be getting a taste of this with everything you’ve got going on and how bleak it’s looking for you as more of your … Continue reading Cornerstone of kindness
Ordinary feels so strange
Dear President Trump, The ordinariness of being back home feels so strange. Because we’ve lived over 2,000 miles away from Laura’s brother and our brother-in-law (BIL) for over twenty years, not having BIL around is normal and yet now that he is dead, it feels anything but normal. It’s sort of like how Laura’s brother … Continue reading Ordinary feels so strange
Endings and transitions
Dear President Trump, I’m pretty much at the end of my stay here in Atlanta. Laura left this morning and I leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I think it will be good all around for us to be home. Laura’s brother says he’s ready to start sorting out his new normal without his … Continue reading Endings and transitions
“Dear Racism”
Dear President Trump, I told you yesterday that I took a class over the weekend on allyship and shared an initial take on my manifesto for wholeness based on one of the writing exercises we did. Another of the exercises involved writing a letter to an ‘ism or ‘ism-like construct; sexism, racism, classism, ageism, able-ism, … Continue reading “Dear Racism”
Rashida Tlaib is already a hero
Dear President Trump, Most days I spend 20 or so minutes during my lunch break catching up on news via NPR. Today the headline article was about Rashida Tlaib who is going to become the first Muslim woman member of the House of Representatives in January; she is running unopposed for the 13th District seat … Continue reading Rashida Tlaib is already a hero