Maestro Musings

Read time: 2 min 12 sec

So apparently I’ve started a “taking” series. You can check out Part 1: Take Advantage, and Part II: Taking Care, by smashing those hyperlinks. If you’ve been reading along each week (and even if you haven’t), then let’s proceed on, shall we.

Last week I started listening to Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer . I’ve had the audiobook in my queue for well over two years now, and I’ve narrowed the original recommendation down to about five possible people.

Why did I start listening now? Because the Universe told me to. I cannot be rushed. But that’s not the point of this email.

The point of this email is what I felt within the first chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass. The point of this email is what I felt when I devoured James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time while cleaning the house a few months ago. The point of this email is what I feel when I read any of the posts shared by @blackliturgies on Instagram.

Comfort.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I also feel a profound sense of grief and sadness for what’s been lost, for what could be but isn’t, and for how we’ve gotten to where we’re at now. But I am equally comforted by the fact that the answers and action items have already been identified and recorded. Many of them many many many years ago.

So, yes, I also feel a tinge of frustration because we’ve had the answers, the actions, the gameplan for so long, and yet, we’re still here. But also, comfort, because we have the answers, the actions, and the gameplan.

Now ya’ll already know that only reading, watching, and listening to things ain’t enough to actually change things, but I for one find comfort in the fact that I don’t have to both come up with the answers AND take the actions. I can just focus on the later.

It’s been thought of. It’s been thought about. It’s been discussed. It’s been dissected. It’s been tested. It’s danced within the greatest minds and been seen shared by the greatest storytellers.

Take comfort.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we need to listen, learn from, and take orders from the folks who have already been here.

Things aren’ t good, but things aren’t new.

There are numerous people and organizations already doing the work and following the plans that have been laid out.

Where does that leave you? Well, that depends on what is important to you. And no, all things cannot and will not be equally important.

So, pick on thing, take comfort, and then, take action.

Maestro out.