As you’ve probably heard by now if you’re reading this, I’m starting my radio show, Praxis, up again on September 24th. As before, it will air live on KYRS Thin Air Community Radio here in Spokane and will be podcast immediately after. I took a long time to make the decision, but at the end of the day I miss doing it. Planning weekly shows keeps me engaged and sharp. Doing interviews keeps me meeting the cool kids in the worlds of activism, art, and academia. Writing new material every week keeps me, well, writing. It’s a win all around and I’d love to hear from the community what topics and thinkers are most appealing in this moment. I also had so much fun hiding all kinds of favorite people and secret messages in the new logo!
I’m back in other ways too having regained some stability in my health. Last fall, I was finally diagnosed with lupus after years of mysterious and escalating symptoms and it was a relief to have some clarity. While I am not a believer in the Everything Happens For A Reason school of thought, the whole physical, emotional, and mental ordeal of the onset of the illness ended up providing a much-needed reset moment for my life as a whole. I was forced to stop the train, to disembark the train, and to sit at the station for a bit. I struggled with that having spent my adult life deep in projects, pursuits, politics, relationships, and public life, but the introvert side of me rejoiced.
We all need reminders that activism–and life more broadly–is not a sprint nor is it a marathon, but rather a relay race. I don’t remember who taught me that, but it is definitely not an original metaphor by me. It was huge to see that the world went on without me (duh, I know) and in fact my absence made space for new people to take on new roles. Some projects died, too, but perhaps it was time. Not everything lives to be an impactful success and some seeds we don’t get to see sprout at all. And my sweet fragile ego made it through unscathed and better for having stepped away. For all the talk about self care and boundary setting that’s currently trendy in the social justice realm, it’s rare to see it in practice. It took me being frail and near death to get it. I’m curious now what others experience has been and what practices work for you.
So now, after having lost my old site (please forgive lack of photos and/or broken links on some older, imported posts), I’m rebuilding and will be writing and posting Praxis shows and transcripts here. It’s just a laid back little home for my unpublished writing and a personal archive. <3
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