Tragedies Happen, But This Mess Is Man-Made

Tragedies Happen, But This Mess Is Man-Made

There was an email headline today that caught in my heart: “We're Closing our Doors After 15 Years…”

A story followed. A personal story. And a statement: “The new tariffs and the uncertainty of the business landscape have made it impossible for a business like ours, built on creativity and connection to continue.”

I don’t know the owner personally, but I know the terrain of building a retail store when our family was young. I know the work of dreamscapes and discovery of a community, of making connections and of the excitement of creativity. 

We went to markets to select products, we staged, we shelved, arranged and rearranged. We built it up and Reganomics took it down. The hardest part was knowing when to say “when”. There were sales and clearances, deep discounts and closing doors. Finally, an auction, but finding our financial footing afterwards took another ten years.  

We always say that the experience earned us an MBA before we were 30. We’re thankful that we have stayed the course, that time and continued hard work have rebuilt us. 

Now, we see people of all ages, tossed from offices, dreams are left in curbs, untold heartache and insecurity, traumas.  Every reality are being lived out by people in every strata of our land. 

Political will and spinelessness—it’s not even a tug of war—are destroying our nation. 

Our will is stronger. The will of the people must be made known. A quote out of context from George Harrison: “It’s gonna take time, a whole lot of precious time. It’s gonna take patience and time.”

It will take people rising up and hanging on and we will prevail.  Resist in every possible way: eat meals together, rally, boycott with your buying power. Vote every chance you get—for local city and school governance, for county and state, for country.  

If elections are daunting to you. Pick your favorite ice cream flavor, challenge your friends to do the same. Engage in discourse. Let your conversations move to more weighty concerns. Inform yourself. Talk about what matters. Tell your personal story; tell how these man-made messes have become real impacts on your life. 

See what collective will can do. 


       - Mary Louise Peters

✨Love & Light for Today:

Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness, and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages.

-Angela Davis

• What needs to be made visible in your community?

• How will claim your power?

✨Find Courage & Renewal Retreats that I facilitate listed here: https://couragerenewal.org/facilitator/marylouisepeters/