"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution," a quote attributed (wrongly)

[niyad]

to Enma Goldman*, is yet one that expresses perfectly my feelings over all the decades of activist struggles. The quote was brought to mind again after an encounter yesterday with a very earnest soul.

There is a certain mindset within any kind of activism that says that any moment of joy, of laughter, of enjoying a brief respite, in the face of the serious activist struggles, is somehow blasphemous. How DARE we laugh, or smile, crack a joke, look at beauty. The issues and causes for which we fight are too serious, too important, to waste time on frivolities, says this particular dour mindset. We have probably all encountered this thinking, been on the receiving end of its censurious moral superiority.

To this calvinist mindset, I have one response. MEADOW MUFFINS.** There is a strain if thinking that runs through many belief systems that declare that suffering, denial, unending toil and sacrifice are our lot in life, our way to salvation and the promised land, after we are dead. Now, I cannot speak for anyone else, but in my belief system, Joy and pleasure, love and beauty, ARE essential. They fuel and feed us, sustain us in our struggles, give us strength and hope. We NEED the smiles in the light moment, the joy of watching children and kittens ad puppies gamboling, the outstretched hand, the stunning beauty of a sunrise, a mountain vista. Without these things, what is the bloody point??

So, I don't know about anyone else, but I intend to laugh and wonder, to love my kittyand my fiends, to enjoy my chocolate and my wine, as I continue working with my sisters and brothers, to make this a world worthy of all of us.

*read Alix Kate Shulman on the origin of that meme.
**those in the west understand.

[Silent3]

1. The first thing that came to my seeing this quote is what the Taliban is doing now...

...in Afghanistan. They want to make sure no one, especially women, ever dance again. And sadly way too many assholes are eager to join that revolution.

[niyad]

2. Sadly, you are absolutely correct,

[greenjar_01]

3. Bread and roses

Agree with you 100%. The irony is that left revolutions are rooted in joy and aesthetic beauty as well as well-being: eight hours work, eight hours rest, eight hours for what you will (dancing included). Bread and roses was the slogan: economic well-being and aesthetic joy. The dour (and I think you're right, Calvinist) mentality has spoiled that, while the capitalists have captured and completely perverted simple human joy, creating the appearance that only they can provide it, at a profit, of course.

[niyad]

5. "Breaad and Roses" expresss it perfectly.

[niyad]

9. Was just listening to a Judy Collins version, and watched short video on the Bread

And Roses Strike of 1912. Wish I could pot, but my computer has a weird glitch, won't let me link or copy and paste.

[Atticus]

4. Agree, but here in Little Egypt, meadow muffins are called "road apples". nt

[niyad]

6. Buffalo chips. Cow patties.

[Atticus]

7. "Trump hors d'oeuvres" nt

[niyad]

8. Snicker

[PatSeg]

11. Ha, ha, ha!!!

[Hugin]

10. I'm dancing as I send this off to the Greatest.

I try to dance regularly. Especially, when nobody is watching.

[niyad]

12. Excellent. Dancing is very important.

[CrispyQ]

13. I love this cuz it's so true:

[niyad]

15. Love it.. love Sandra.

[PatSeg]

14. Life truly is short

Always being serious regardless of any noble objectives, will undoubtedly make it even shorter. When we look around us and find nothing to celebrate or smile about, then maybe there is nothing left worth fighting for. It is our moments of joy, as fleeting as they may be at times, that strengthens and sustains us.

Good for you!

[niyad]

16. Thank you.

[electric_blue68]

17. This! SOooo THIS!!!!! 😄 💖

"There is a certain mindset within any kind of activism that says that any moment of joy, of laughter, of enjoying a brief respite, in the face of the serious activist struggles, is somehow blasphemous. How DARE we laugh, or smile, crack a joke, look at beauty. The issues and causes for which we fight are too serious, too important, to waste time on frivolities, says this particular dour mindset. We have probably all encountered this thinking, been on the receiving end of its censurious moral superiority."

Arrrrggggg, THIS!!!

Anger alone (for most) can not sustain us.
~ Beauty, wonder, play, laughter, creative pursuits, hobbies, relaxation, by one's self, /or shared with good family, friends, friendly strangers, etc - sustains so many of us. As we work for, towards a better world!
What in an just and equitable world everyone would enjoy (unless they reject it).

When I was in Art College (a looong time ago) we'd go past a big lobby to a wide hallway flanked on the right by offices, and opening on the left to a big cafeteria.

Well, right by where the hallway started but before the offices were - was The Dour Crowd !
A few sour, pinched faced activists Hawking their Socialist Workers World newspapers...
Eeeew! 😄


(** 1980- The one and only time I was on a Rancher's property for [you'll love this] the last day of the Black Hills Alliance Gathering (to protect the people, and land elsewhere, renewable energies, and other good stuff - I barely managed to avoid my first "encounter" looking down at the right time in the grass 😂 and knowing what to look for then on )

What prompted this?
Reflecting on past encounters?
A new run in with an Always Cranky Activist?

(I'd never call myself an Activist,
a semi-activist~ yes 👍 )

[niyad]

18. You are, of course, quite correct. Anger alone cannot sustain us. We must have all

the other things you listed. I was reminded of "be the change you want to see in the world." Or, "live as though that which you long for already exists." If we do not actively live it, how will we know what to do when our desired world is a reality?

I am glad that you were able to skip that encounter, they are not fun. But the work sounds very rewarding.

What prompted this was an encounter with one of those self-righteous, sanctimonious, morally superior types yesterday. It had been a while since I had encountered the type, but they still irritate me the same way.

I am certain that you are being quite modest.

[niyad]

19. . . .

[niyad]

20. . . .