One note from human behaviour:

As a species we overestimate our ability to adapt to new information.

Studies consistently show that first data in is very hard to overcome even with well-evidenced retractions later on.

This is why it's exceptionally important to go lightly into the first waves of any new data dump, especially when the data is emotionally charged.

Sit with the emotion instead of trying to sear developing "facts" into your head.

It will make critical analysis easier later on.

I've also noticed that I have a tendency to sit VERY STILL and VERY TENSELY for long periods of time when I'm reading war news, or diving into the worst parts of the internet to try to verify related claims.

Do you do that, too?

Maybe we should stop doing that.

Get your "active minutes" in between sordid sessions at the console.

I promise - unfortunately - that the atrocity will still be there for you when you get back in more limber form.

Info is always a weapon in war.

But the grief that new info elicits is real.

The grief might be the only real thing in all of this.

So don't forget to make space for yours today, & every day.

The other day I saw a man carrying his baby in the street (a normal practice here; strollers aren't as common as in the West), & it immediately brought tears to my eyes. I've seen the silhouette of people carrying their dead loved ones in too many photos this past week. We all have.

Honour your grief.

(I should also add that this poem is a bit of Rorschach test, because its closing imagery can be read two different ways depending on whether *you* can't help but see Black trauma even in a poem in which a Black person compares themself to a flower capable of being scattered to bits in a heartbeat. Tons of food for thought here about the cultural expectations we bring to the work we read.)

Apparently it's #BlackPoetryDay!

This one is dear to me. It was inspired by the author hearing someone judge a Black poet for having the audacity to write about something other than trauma. Often when events are focused on a person's identity, that's what's expected: Look! We gave you space! Now perform your pain so that we can feel good & helpful, & be entertained!

Eff that.

We'll only ever achieve full equity when no one is expected to perform their wounds.

#Poetry
https://poets.org/poem/how-can-black-people-write-about-flowers-time

🌎
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And as per usual, @BosmangBeratna says it better. 👌🏻 Kowmang gotta work together, sasa ke?
https://youtube.com/shorts/z8kkWhu2ZTA?si=SvMvlrUo8ltECvpj

Folks might be worn out on Jan 6 commentary, but I've been listening to a miniseries that talks about an important and very relevant angle:

Radicalization through online misinformation *and the reward cycles of modern social media*.

They're all excellent episodes, looking at different people involved and how the online world diverted them, but if you only listen to one, Baked Alaska's story is important because it is *so innocuous*.

Tech is a tool. Use it carefully.
https://pca.st/episode/7acc43d2-9798-4e65-b7d6-75430ceff179

Well, my morning's complete now. 🙂

#Nature #StrangeTrashPandas

And... a follow-up. These two shorts are really for the rest of #CoSoWriters because our #WritingCommunity probably has low hearts right now, while trying to carve out a sense of value for personal creative practice.

In general, though, if you're finding it hard to see the value in so much human labour right now--with two wars, climate change, rising anti-democratic hatefulness and wilfully harmful politicking... you're not alone.

Sitting with world-grief matters too. 💛
https://youtube.com/shorts/SuQvITMhZRo?si=XIk9pzvY9lAOnR7c

Morning CoSo. How's everyone's heart? Are you being kind with the soft animal of your body today? Letting it love what it loves?

I'm almost caught up on some outstanding tasks, but most importantly I got out of bed bright and early and the park is full of birdsong. I've been listening to / responding to voice messages more than running (such backlog!) but any physical movement is better than none. Will have a fuller BookTube again... tomorrow? Tomorrow.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Jn6pNW9teUg?si=UwboVYSHsenKH7SE

Evening loves. 🕊️

Today's deep-dive is heavy, and still related to the war.

When I wrote my four-parter on Israel and the West earlier this year, I tried to dispel Western ideas that keep getting imposed on Israel, instead of listening to Israel's democratic society.

That issue has come to the fore again.

So, today I contrast Bush after 9/11 with Netanyahu leading up to and after October 7: to remind folks that democracy is complicated, and *always* a casualty of war.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/two-democracies-when-at-war/

@Alfred, what does CoSo smell like?

Oh! We forgot to ask an important member:

@Alfred, what does CoSo smell like?

So far, you folks are painting a really terrific scene of a summer at the cottage with your sensory landscapes...

Either that, or a tender small-town reunion, where everyone shows up and finds comfort in one another, even amid difficult surrounding circumstances!

Sounds about right. :)

If CoSo had a smell, what would it be? 🤔

#RandomThoughts

Caveat:

Part of why Robin Williams' death hurt so much was that, before we knew he'd ended his life early due to a degenerative illness - back when it "simply" seemed to be suicide in depression - we were surrounded by people genuinely shocked that a funny man could have been sad himself.

That reaction devastated a lot of us. Couldn't they see Williams' lows as well, which infused his comedy?

His death reminded us how many cannot see mental crisis behind a smile.

And *that* hurt. Still does.

A beautiful reframe of a classic "joke" about hopelessness amid depression.

#MentalHealth