June

I don't have a clever title for this month.

There are a lot of things to say about June- mostly inspired by musicals- "they say when you marry in June, you're a bride all your life" and "June is bustin out all over".

Here's another thing to say about June: it's the name of the main character in my all time favorite (also new) TV show called "The Handmaid's Tale". It's the story of a distopian society that has taken to forcing "sinful" yet fertile women into birthing babies for what is essentially the "upper class". The story goes that the worlds food supply and quality nutrition depletes. Fertility rates plummet and those babies that are born often don't survive. It's a seemingly crazy story and yet, we as an audience can see so much of ourselves in it.

I'd like to write about the things that we've been up to but, today I have some more heavy thoughts. There has been a great deal of conflict in the US right now due to the POTUS, Donald Trump, and his "zero tolerance" immigration policies. People seeking asylum coming from South America have been detained and imprisoned. They've been separated from their children and some of them, I am told, will never be reunited. There have been a lot of nasty comments made on both sides of this situation/ argument (I'm not certain why there's even an argument- separating families is clearly wrong) and, I cannot abide by what I'm hearing about the treatment of these people. Comparisons are being made to the US closing borders to the Jews during the Holocaust and it doesn't feel like those comparisons are that far of a stretch.

I'm always nervous to write these kinds of thoughts down. What if I'm wrong? What if my information was misguided? What if I'm not taking a strong enough stance? Will I regret not having flown to Texas to lend a hand to the children in these detainment centers? Right now, I'm leaning toward that- toward dropping everything and going to be there and help in person.

I read that after a major crisis (school shootings, natural disasters, etc) there's often an influx of useless donations. Lots of "comforting" stuffed animals and clothes that "well meaning" people have cast off (shoes without matches and such)...come on people! What they need are toiletries, food, and love.

Scott and I have talked about solutions and of course that's easy to do- just talk about solving the world's problems. They're likely more complex than we can possibly understand. One thing Scott has suggested is that if we open our borders completely, it might force countries like Mexico to make some major changes in their economy to prevent their country from economic collapse. He makes a point. If the population were to dwindle to a point that the economy really began to feel it, adjustments would have to be made. Perhaps we are over simplifying. Scott's also read about how in Portugal they "decriminalized" all drugs and spent the money they were spending incarcerating drug criminals on education and drug rehab programs that focus on connection. Apparently the effects have been wildly positive. There's a Ted talk that explains how the opposite of addiction isn't sobriety...it's connection and provides a bunch of stats that support the idea that when individuals are connected to their community and family, they value themselves and avoid illicit drug use. Anyway, while we don't know how to solve the worlds problems, we are paying attention and we are trying to make a difference. More on that next post. :)