Seasonal Gifts for You

A Thank You to Friends on Substack

It’s not much, but it’s what I’m able to give electronically.

I just want to say thank you for reading, for commenting, and for the sense of community you’ve created on this platform.

Whatever you celebrate, and whether or not you do, I hope you are able to find joy in this dark and cold time of year, at least here in the northern hemisphere. Wishing you good company, good food, and the warmth and comfort they bring.

Here are my electronic tokens of appreciation.

I love this low budget, low environmental impact guide to gift giving and decorating from Greenpeace. I found it inspiring, and am now looking forward to giving and wrapping gifts, and decorating my living space.

Here’s Chris Hedges interviewing Gabor Maté titled Enduring the Trauma of Genocide. I found it comforting and hope you do too.

And here’s a post that articulates values that I already have, and want to be more intentional about. Thanks to Yoli Valdéz for this beautiful, moving and constructive piece of writing entitled Living By Grace.

On Winter Solstice our community choir will be singing these two songs, and I’d like to offer recordings of them to you.

I appreciate the values ascribed to Solstice in this song. They’re values we need now. In case you’re rushing through, here are some of the words that I find moving:

The poor and the hungry

the weak and the lost

these are our children

no matter the cost.

Come by the fire

the harvest to share

for the spirit of Solstice

is still living here.

Here it is: Solstice Carol by the Wyrd Sisters.

This song, North by Sleeping at Last, sung by the Vancouver Youth Choir, still sometimes makes me cry when singing the following lines:

Let the years we’re here be kind

Let our hearts like doors open wide.

Wish me luck holding it together during our performance.

And my last gift is for those who are trying to figure out what to do to stop the ongoing genocide.

This talk is about environmental activism, but the principles it presents can be applied to any kind of activism. This ten minute TED Talk is so useful. I hope it inspires you to take action in whatever way that suits you best.

Wishing you a peaceful and joyous festive season, and hoping for peace and a kinder, gentler world in the coming year. I hope we can achieve these things together.

Sincerely,

Diana

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I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here's an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/browse/1

Here's a way to help others not in your bubble to boycott Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/stickies_2024_en

And here's where you can support Palestine by buying a keffiyeh: https://www.hirbawi.ps/