for the past number of years i have put together and published a new year's aspirations piece... i long ago gave up on resolutions... if they were specific, they locked you in and what happens if something about what you resolve to do shifts?... if they are too general, they aren't actionable... it seemed better to put together a list of things i aspire to do... aspirations can be both general and specific... the more specific, the more actionable, but also, still flexible... i'm not going to do any of that this year... the election results mean we are in for a period of great uncertainty... if things were to go as bad as the worst of my imagination posits, then resolutions/aspirations will be of the survival sort... even if what unfolds doesn't match the worst scenarios of my imagination, things are likely shifting big time... the important questions start to be, how do i cope with all this uncertainty and potential awfulness whithout loosing myself and my sense of what is important... how do i maintain my integrity in a world that looks set to shift in ways that severely challenge self and integrity?... this year i decided that i need a solid #coping-strategy for meeting it all with quiet fortitude... i needed a strategy that keeps me fully grounded... i have put together a coping plan... it begins with a... #manifesto... the fundamental problem in the world is western style, patriarchal-corporate-capitalism [[pcc]]… the world view generated by [[pcc]] is one of endless resource exploitation of anyone, anything, everyone and everything… #oppression and #violence are its main tools… whether democrats or republicans lead the United States government is irrelevant… as long as [[pcc]] dominates the world view, the world will suffer… ... then moves to commitments... i commit to full presence in the current moment… - i refuse to have my joy stolen from me… - i refuse to be silenced… - i refuse to abandon my trans-feminine explorations... - i refuse to loose faith in the capacity of people to be loving, kind and compassionate… - i intend to “be the change i wish to see”... - i believe in power with, not power over… - i believe in community… i will be revisiting and refining my coping strategy throughout the next four years, as well as reporting my experience implementing it... stay tuned...