📌 Let's Go Hang the Stars
With thanks to Jane Yolen (by way of Julie Hedlund) for the metaphor
In the late 90s, I went (as a member of the public and with student tickets) to a presidential inauguration. It was an excellent opportunity to see D.C. with college friends and surprisingly fun! Still, what I most remember was running into my Great Aunt Linda1 and her granddaughter Emmy, dressed to the nines, in the women’s bathrooms at Union Station. They were on their way to the Native Nations Inaugural Ball; we were floored that, after many years of not seeing one another in person due to living many states away, we would reunite in such a way. 😂 The magic of a train station bathroom!
Suffice it to say, THIS inauguration brings no desire for me to do anything other than feel, well, disgusted. Instead of impromptu meet-ups with long-missed relatives or great stories—it only brings me deep-seated (and well-founded) worries, upon worries, upon worries.
It’s tough to keep my optimism for any good to be possible in these times—and yet, we must. Not to play at being Pollyanna—but to survive. To somehow get through this without letting the bastards completely grind us, and what we hold dear, down. And so, I’m keeping some space inside of me—carved out, it must be said, painstakingly—where I will allow myself to hope the next four years will be a clarion reminder of the multitude of kids who need well-crafted, gorgeous and (dare I say?) entertaining books. Who need laughs (maybe now, more than ever)! Who need imagination! Who need kindness and determination, in equal measures.
Every year, I participate in Julie Hedlund’s 12 Days of Christmas for Writers, which sounds like it’s faith-based; it’s not religious at all, but does feel a bit faith-based in a more general “building faith in our writing year” way—as sort of a preamble to creating kind, actionable, and genuinely useful resolutions for myself. Anyhow, during Day 12, she shared a remarkable Jane Yolen poem that I, in turn, would also like to share.
What can we creators do to hang the stars, even against—especially against!—such a seemingly dark and menacing backdrop?
As for me, I am/will view he-who-shall-not-be-named’s first 100 days in office as a time to remember to do daily “little nice things” for other people. It’s a selfish thing, as I know I actually get (psychically) far more out carrying through on good intentions than the receivers might “get” from my efforts, but it’s what I can do. Sometimes, the best thing we can do in darkness is to try to light a candle and hope everyone else is doing the same—or will, as soon as they see the light.
Your “trying hard to channel Eleanor Roosevelt’s, ‘If you lose faith, you lose all.’” friend,
Elayne
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Great Aunt Linda is a remarkable woman. While not biologically my aunt, she’s my dad and aunt’s godmother and was my grandmother’s best friend. She’s done many amazing things in her life—including being mayor of Marietta, Oklahoma!—but she may have hit her acme in 2023 when she was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame!! How cool is that?