Very thought provoking. I had to laugh about your Amazon experience. Since the pandemic I have tried to not shop there, and besides maybe three times, I haven’t. Small businesses are my primary target. It feels good to know my dollars are benefiting an individual over a large conglomerate owned by billionaires.
I had to laugh about my Amazon experience, too, and I did -- rather a lot, in fact, after I got over the incredulity. I've never relied on Amazon, but it feels good to know that I've severed my relationship even further. Here's to small businesses, and to shopping conscientiously. It's hard but the feel-good reward is worth it. Thanks so much, Teresa.
I’m fortunate that it really isn’t that difficult to avoid Amazon for me. We have easily accessible produce, books and other items here. I even gave up my Washington Post subscription after the election fiasco. I realize it’s tough for others to shop without it, but not for me. It’s an easy choice around here. Except when they ship for others! Then you really have no choice which is super unfair.
Great post, Elizabeth. I hope you're still getting the perks from JB. We all pick who we want to play with. I haven't left Prime yet. I split my purchases between local and online and not just Amazon. I live semi-rural, and there are some things that aren't easy to obtain. I wish JB weren't such a greedy shmuck, but he is. I'm turning my attention to my new project, and to my ongoing writing. I'm committed to growing community, speaking my truth with the hope that it will land for others and make a difference in some lives by being as honest as possible about things I've battled with, things I've overcome, and ways that I'm expanding my experience of living a joy-filled life. I'd much rather come from a place of love and joy than one of fear and scarcity. I can only be responsible for my own transformation. And I'm here to help change the world. It took me years to get to a place of peace within. I'm not going to let the bozos in Washington, in ICE, etc get in the way of that. I'm glad you posted Wendy's card project. I'm going to participate in it. xo
None of BeeZoo's perks for me, except for my old Fire Stick tv set-up. But I have plenty of other skeletons in my corporate bondage closet. LOL.
Your commitment to growing community is evident, Nan, as is your joy-filled life. Thanks so much for letting some of that wash over the rest of us. Appreciate you being here, as always.
‘I would rather expend my energy helping construct the world I hope for than rehearsing my disgust at the one I oppose.’ Reminds me of Bad Bunny’s ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love’. Take care dear people. Sending love.
Wasn't that a winner of a tagline for that show!? I watched it after the fact, and it was a worthy 15-minutes of liveliness and promise. Thank you, Beth.
*hugging you* It was lovely that you mentioned the card project. Thank you. As for spending/action, I dragged my feet for a long time about Amazon. Finally cutting it loose felt GREAT. Yep, a fuck you, but side by side, a vote for the world I want. I know my one little subscription doesn't mean much, but like voting, collective action has power. Lots of "fuck yous" (and I don't feel bad about that) but also, efforts to put more love in the world. One piece of art, one letter, one conversation at a time. I have been trained to be kind (or else), so I have to make an overt effort to allow my fierce side, too. More and more, the love and rage coexist. They both want peace. I will be meditating with the monks today (from afar). I think there is magic in a shared intent (magnified by doing it at roughly the same time). I'll be there beside you.
I'm telling myself that one of the reasons the free Prime glitch finally caught up with me is that they've lost enough money from people unsubscribing to warrant tightening up the bookkeeping. Never mind the unlikelihood of that, it's fun to dream!
You make an interesting point about being trained to be kind, Wendy, and thank you for mentioning that. I think, if you don't mind me offering an alternative, you've been trained to be *nice.* That can be faked, but kindness -- the real stuff -- needs to come from the heart, and you do that very well.
I was there with the monks for their hour-long meditation tonight. It was pretty amazing. So are you! XX - E
You know, when I wrote that I was trained to be kind, I thought, no—it wasn’t that. Not kindness. Nice, as you said. Compliant. Quiet. Never making anyone else uncomfortable (for my own safety as well). Ferocity and kindness are definitely compatible.
And you were there with the monks! Are you Buddhist? Will you be writing about it?
Oh! Ok. I meditated at roughly the same time, but want to watch the hour online, too. (I am sleep deprived, too. I hope you (and I both) sleep better tonight!)
Amen!! Your writing is beautiful, and I can feel the power in it. I listened today to John Cabott Zinn (sp?). He said something like, …a broken heart can become a broken-open heart. That really spoke to me because I find myself feeling sorrow about many things going on in our country. It feels like a broken heart. And it is through the small individual efforts that I think you are speaking about, that I hope we can open our hearts to more than we often think possible.
Thank you, Darrell, and what a beautiful way to frame a transformation of the heart -- from broken to broken-open. A week or so ago, I wrote that it's not malevolence that brings me to tears, it's tenderness. I think we can and must open ourselves to mutual care. It's the only way we'll make it through and beyond this into something worth being part of. So, so glad to see you here today. Much appreciated.
Maybe it's not being *better* so much as being fully invested in the outcomes we want. The specific action is less important than that we all do something to expand our reach if we possibly can. At a gym class this morning, I mentioned joining the loving-kindness meditation with the monks (online) last night. Someone asked, "Do you think it will help?" My reply was, "It can't hurt." ☺️
As an indie writer, one of my biggest marketplaces is Amazon Kindle. Whilst I'd love to wash them right out of my hair, I can't financially afford to as they reach across the globe to all book markets.
For we indie writers, Amazon KDP has, to be frank, been a God-send (in my case, for 16 years). It has to count for something.
My protest has been to cease buying any American products. In our home, that equates to Colgate products and our Australian Arnotts biscuits which are now owned by an American conglomerate. Not much of a protest there but better than nothing. I shudder to think about my Apple phone, my Apple Mac, Microsoft and so forth.
YES, please continue in that protest, Prue! Though it pains me to write it, the collective "we" of the U.S. deserve it for putting a narcissist in office.
As I said above to David, it's really less about Amazon in particular than it is about doing *something*. For me it was letting go of the subscription rather than making lifetime proclamations about never shopping there again.
You are doing more than something, acting in so many ways that go beyond your buying habits. Brava to you, and thank you.
Once again, your post arrived in my inbox at exactly the right moment. I so deeply appreciate everything you wrote, including your reminder not to give into the clarity of hatred or surrender to facile disdain, but rather, to remember that persistence matters more than clarity, and building something emergent and alive and positive and community-rooted is more enduring than outraged shouting. And the image of the birds at the very end? Just absolutely beautiful.
Thank you, Irena. We are a deeply imperfect species -- or maybe it's not the species but the culture -- but we seem to be overachievers when it comes to our intolerance for whatever challenges our sense of certainty or comfort. I appreciate knowing that this one resonated for you. Oh, the convo on your page about alternatives to publishing on Amazon, you might find this interesting. XX!
I might be wrong, but I believe the notion of consumer resistance was first suggest by Scott Galloway, the popular podcaster, professor, business consultant. When I heard him explain his idea I was skeptical. How could this work? Can people change their lives and forgo conveniences that have become part of our culture? I was somewhat optimist because in my small world I refused to use Facebook (or buy Meta stock) because of its toxic effect on our youth and hijacking of our personal data. The self backslapping and virtue signaling waned, of course. I realized that most of my friends use FB, and I was missing out on massive amounts of personal and socially relevant activity. And besides, I don’t treat Meta’s other child Instagram with the same discipline, which somehow I can easily rationalize. So I’m looking for alternative ways to protest. Does curating my IG feed count?
☺️ A few years ago, a friend committed to not traveling by airplane anymore because of its massive ecological impact. One of her kids lives on the west coast, so to see her and other people she cares about, she's driven cross country multiple times, most recently last summer. But, she has also started flying again, realizing at some point, that she could soften the hard line in the sand she'd drawn without relaxing all of her principles. For this kind of decision, I like to think we do the best we can with what we know at the time, but I haven't come up with m/any that don't have negative side effects.
Appreciate the thought-provoking comment, Rob. Galloway's call to "Resist and Unsubscribe" is absolutely a voice in my head right now. Any efforts I make in that regard will be imperfect (at best), but still better than nothing. I hope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atZWEwGk7zY
Thanks, Amy. My last Amazon order was in early January, so the change is recent, and the timing of my discovery hilarious. Now, I have the great privilege of deciding how to redirect the 11 year old "windfall" I had no idea was happening. 😅
I , too have tried with varying degrees of success to uncouple my dollars from the kleptocracy . I don’t believe we should support Anyone who is in the top 1%- especially as they have such a stranglehold on our economy, lives , politics etc.
Living in the rural side of Maryland limits choices , but we can still choose where we spend our money: actually living with what we have instead of of mindlessly spending is a form of resistance- at least I like to believe so
I really admire the way that people in Minneapolis have stepped up together to protect and support their neighbors , their communities - we have so much to learn from each other
Thank you for reading, Melody, and for your care-full comment. Like you, I try to make conscientious purchases, and agree that avoiding certain stores or just buying less are some of the tools most directly available to us.
There's a quote from James Baldwin that I love, especially now: "If the truth you're telling doesn't cost you something, you're probably just reciting approved talking points. If the power you're confronting still likes you, then you haven't confronted power at all."
I appreciate that you and I are trying to make good on that.
"The easy glow of righteousness"...really struck me. There's a lot of soul searching here, Elizabeth, and I feel that your conclusions are spot-on! Such troubling times we must care for and about what is most important. I'll miss our monthly connection. ~J
Very thought provoking. I had to laugh about your Amazon experience. Since the pandemic I have tried to not shop there, and besides maybe three times, I haven’t. Small businesses are my primary target. It feels good to know my dollars are benefiting an individual over a large conglomerate owned by billionaires.
I had to laugh about my Amazon experience, too, and I did -- rather a lot, in fact, after I got over the incredulity. I've never relied on Amazon, but it feels good to know that I've severed my relationship even further. Here's to small businesses, and to shopping conscientiously. It's hard but the feel-good reward is worth it. Thanks so much, Teresa.
I’m fortunate that it really isn’t that difficult to avoid Amazon for me. We have easily accessible produce, books and other items here. I even gave up my Washington Post subscription after the election fiasco. I realize it’s tough for others to shop without it, but not for me. It’s an easy choice around here. Except when they ship for others! Then you really have no choice which is super unfair.
Great post, Elizabeth. I hope you're still getting the perks from JB. We all pick who we want to play with. I haven't left Prime yet. I split my purchases between local and online and not just Amazon. I live semi-rural, and there are some things that aren't easy to obtain. I wish JB weren't such a greedy shmuck, but he is. I'm turning my attention to my new project, and to my ongoing writing. I'm committed to growing community, speaking my truth with the hope that it will land for others and make a difference in some lives by being as honest as possible about things I've battled with, things I've overcome, and ways that I'm expanding my experience of living a joy-filled life. I'd much rather come from a place of love and joy than one of fear and scarcity. I can only be responsible for my own transformation. And I'm here to help change the world. It took me years to get to a place of peace within. I'm not going to let the bozos in Washington, in ICE, etc get in the way of that. I'm glad you posted Wendy's card project. I'm going to participate in it. xo
Yay! Can’t wait to see your cards, if you choose to share. x
Same!
None of BeeZoo's perks for me, except for my old Fire Stick tv set-up. But I have plenty of other skeletons in my corporate bondage closet. LOL.
Your commitment to growing community is evident, Nan, as is your joy-filled life. Thanks so much for letting some of that wash over the rest of us. Appreciate you being here, as always.
You're a sweet human, Elizabeth Beggins. xo
‘I would rather expend my energy helping construct the world I hope for than rehearsing my disgust at the one I oppose.’ Reminds me of Bad Bunny’s ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love’. Take care dear people. Sending love.
Wasn't that a winner of a tagline for that show!? I watched it after the fact, and it was a worthy 15-minutes of liveliness and promise. Thank you, Beth.
Who knows humble truth:
love’s power trumps hate’s untruths?
Even Bad Bunny.
*hugging you* It was lovely that you mentioned the card project. Thank you. As for spending/action, I dragged my feet for a long time about Amazon. Finally cutting it loose felt GREAT. Yep, a fuck you, but side by side, a vote for the world I want. I know my one little subscription doesn't mean much, but like voting, collective action has power. Lots of "fuck yous" (and I don't feel bad about that) but also, efforts to put more love in the world. One piece of art, one letter, one conversation at a time. I have been trained to be kind (or else), so I have to make an overt effort to allow my fierce side, too. More and more, the love and rage coexist. They both want peace. I will be meditating with the monks today (from afar). I think there is magic in a shared intent (magnified by doing it at roughly the same time). I'll be there beside you.
I'm telling myself that one of the reasons the free Prime glitch finally caught up with me is that they've lost enough money from people unsubscribing to warrant tightening up the bookkeeping. Never mind the unlikelihood of that, it's fun to dream!
You make an interesting point about being trained to be kind, Wendy, and thank you for mentioning that. I think, if you don't mind me offering an alternative, you've been trained to be *nice.* That can be faked, but kindness -- the real stuff -- needs to come from the heart, and you do that very well.
I was there with the monks for their hour-long meditation tonight. It was pretty amazing. So are you! XX - E
You know, when I wrote that I was trained to be kind, I thought, no—it wasn’t that. Not kindness. Nice, as you said. Compliant. Quiet. Never making anyone else uncomfortable (for my own safety as well). Ferocity and kindness are definitely compatible.
And you were there with the monks! Are you Buddhist? Will you be writing about it?
Ohh...sorry, no. I wish! My comment was a little sleep deprived. I was there *online* with them. ☺️
Oh! Ok. I meditated at roughly the same time, but want to watch the hour online, too. (I am sleep deprived, too. I hope you (and I both) sleep better tonight!)
Amen!! Your writing is beautiful, and I can feel the power in it. I listened today to John Cabott Zinn (sp?). He said something like, …a broken heart can become a broken-open heart. That really spoke to me because I find myself feeling sorrow about many things going on in our country. It feels like a broken heart. And it is through the small individual efforts that I think you are speaking about, that I hope we can open our hearts to more than we often think possible.
Thank you, Darrell, and what a beautiful way to frame a transformation of the heart -- from broken to broken-open. A week or so ago, I wrote that it's not malevolence that brings me to tears, it's tenderness. I think we can and must open ourselves to mutual care. It's the only way we'll make it through and beyond this into something worth being part of. So, so glad to see you here today. Much appreciated.
Your essay is a beautiful nudge for us to be better. Well said and well done!
Thanks, David, and great to see you here.
Maybe it's not being *better* so much as being fully invested in the outcomes we want. The specific action is less important than that we all do something to expand our reach if we possibly can. At a gym class this morning, I mentioned joining the loving-kindness meditation with the monks (online) last night. Someone asked, "Do you think it will help?" My reply was, "It can't hurt." ☺️
As an indie writer, one of my biggest marketplaces is Amazon Kindle. Whilst I'd love to wash them right out of my hair, I can't financially afford to as they reach across the globe to all book markets.
For we indie writers, Amazon KDP has, to be frank, been a God-send (in my case, for 16 years). It has to count for something.
My protest has been to cease buying any American products. In our home, that equates to Colgate products and our Australian Arnotts biscuits which are now owned by an American conglomerate. Not much of a protest there but better than nothing. I shudder to think about my Apple phone, my Apple Mac, Microsoft and so forth.
YES, please continue in that protest, Prue! Though it pains me to write it, the collective "we" of the U.S. deserve it for putting a narcissist in office.
As I said above to David, it's really less about Amazon in particular than it is about doing *something*. For me it was letting go of the subscription rather than making lifetime proclamations about never shopping there again.
You are doing more than something, acting in so many ways that go beyond your buying habits. Brava to you, and thank you.
Once again, your post arrived in my inbox at exactly the right moment. I so deeply appreciate everything you wrote, including your reminder not to give into the clarity of hatred or surrender to facile disdain, but rather, to remember that persistence matters more than clarity, and building something emergent and alive and positive and community-rooted is more enduring than outraged shouting. And the image of the birds at the very end? Just absolutely beautiful.
Thank you, Irena. We are a deeply imperfect species -- or maybe it's not the species but the culture -- but we seem to be overachievers when it comes to our intolerance for whatever challenges our sense of certainty or comfort. I appreciate knowing that this one resonated for you. Oh, the convo on your page about alternatives to publishing on Amazon, you might find this interesting. XX!
https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/comments/15kmuwd/alternatives_to_publishing_on_amazon_surely_it_is/
Sustained engagement,
focus on life/love actions.
Pro- more than anti-.
...
(This ponderer prefers listening to post recordings)
Ooh, thank you for the little post script, Marisol. And yes: Pro- more than anti- is just right. You're amazing.
I might be wrong, but I believe the notion of consumer resistance was first suggest by Scott Galloway, the popular podcaster, professor, business consultant. When I heard him explain his idea I was skeptical. How could this work? Can people change their lives and forgo conveniences that have become part of our culture? I was somewhat optimist because in my small world I refused to use Facebook (or buy Meta stock) because of its toxic effect on our youth and hijacking of our personal data. The self backslapping and virtue signaling waned, of course. I realized that most of my friends use FB, and I was missing out on massive amounts of personal and socially relevant activity. And besides, I don’t treat Meta’s other child Instagram with the same discipline, which somehow I can easily rationalize. So I’m looking for alternative ways to protest. Does curating my IG feed count?
☺️ A few years ago, a friend committed to not traveling by airplane anymore because of its massive ecological impact. One of her kids lives on the west coast, so to see her and other people she cares about, she's driven cross country multiple times, most recently last summer. But, she has also started flying again, realizing at some point, that she could soften the hard line in the sand she'd drawn without relaxing all of her principles. For this kind of decision, I like to think we do the best we can with what we know at the time, but I haven't come up with m/any that don't have negative side effects.
Appreciate the thought-provoking comment, Rob. Galloway's call to "Resist and Unsubscribe" is absolutely a voice in my head right now. Any efforts I make in that regard will be imperfect (at best), but still better than nothing. I hope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atZWEwGk7zY
A beautifully written and thoughtful post, Elizabeth. What an unexpected glitch. All that indignant rage only to find there was no cancel button. Lol.
Thanks, Amy. My last Amazon order was in early January, so the change is recent, and the timing of my discovery hilarious. Now, I have the great privilege of deciding how to redirect the 11 year old "windfall" I had no idea was happening. 😅
Happy Valentine's Day, friend! 💌
To hope!
Yes, Holly -- and to all of us working on the labor & delivery floor. 😅
I , too have tried with varying degrees of success to uncouple my dollars from the kleptocracy . I don’t believe we should support Anyone who is in the top 1%- especially as they have such a stranglehold on our economy, lives , politics etc.
Living in the rural side of Maryland limits choices , but we can still choose where we spend our money: actually living with what we have instead of of mindlessly spending is a form of resistance- at least I like to believe so
I really admire the way that people in Minneapolis have stepped up together to protect and support their neighbors , their communities - we have so much to learn from each other
Thank you for another thoughtful essay ❤️
Thank you for reading, Melody, and for your care-full comment. Like you, I try to make conscientious purchases, and agree that avoiding certain stores or just buying less are some of the tools most directly available to us.
There's a quote from James Baldwin that I love, especially now: "If the truth you're telling doesn't cost you something, you're probably just reciting approved talking points. If the power you're confronting still likes you, then you haven't confronted power at all."
I appreciate that you and I are trying to make good on that.
"The easy glow of righteousness"...really struck me. There's a lot of soul searching here, Elizabeth, and I feel that your conclusions are spot-on! Such troubling times we must care for and about what is most important. I'll miss our monthly connection. ~J
Thanks, Janice. I appreciate the solidarity.
You're traveling today, I believe. I can't wait to hear about your amazing experiences when you return. To warmth! 🌅