My nearest tienda del barrio usually has a ton of fruits on its front display case, but tonight there were only bananas: traditional and furry. 🤔

#CatTax #CatsOfCoSo

Live footage of me sending out my first story submission of the new month.

#WritersOfCoSo #WritingCommunity

OH DEAR. THIS POST WAS SET TO SELF-DETONATE 💣 💥 🔥

Ą̷͇̀l̵̩̓̕l̸̩͘ ̸̭̪̈́ť̷̝̍̆h̶̡̛̰̯̏͌a̷͕̞͋̂t̵̩͙͑̈́͝'̵̛̍́ͅͅş̴̬̱͝ ̷̗̊͠l̵͚̕͠ē̸̻͓̐͝f̷̧͙̀̑͝t̶͓̓͊̚ ̶̜̱̓͌́a̴͉͊r̶̡̩͛̀é̵̦̞͕ ̶̮̾ṫ̷̡͈̍ḧ̸̛͍́̊e̴̫̅ş̶̥̰̓e̴̟̪͌͂̇ ̷̞̅͊̚h̷̰͕͈͂e̶̡̹̜̚ŗ̸̗͈̾̇e̴̩̍͐ ̷̪͉̩̀a̵̡̱̐͑͝s̴͎͖̈́h̸͈͌́͜e̴͕̝̐̌ś̶͓̆ͅ.̵̩̉ ̵̱͊͑̀

This one is for @BosmangBeratna and my fellow Canucks. (Yes, USians, Canuckistan has problems, too! 🙃 So bring a shovel if you choose to emigrate.)

💪🏻 Solidarity, mi gente.

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.

#TimeToWork!

Good morning, you beautiful messy fellow humans.

I thought I was going to start the month on a good note, but I spent the first two hours sending off emails instead of leaving bed, because someone I work with got a little too "email happy" in the middle of the night, and sent off tons of complicating correspondence to other workers.

All cleared up now.

Let's try this "no nonsense November" again.

Here's to making this month a good one in which to be alive. #CoSoMusic

https://youtu.be/oHRNrgDIJfo

So full and so full of love, these streets!

#Colombia #Halloween
(And... Christmas?! But of course! 😅)

One more video, then photos. Some music is just hilariously classic and universal.

Out for a wee walk in Colombian #Halloween 🎃 (a.k.a., street party night!).

Some people wander this mob with bags of candy in hand, dropping them in random kids' buckets, but most are just out in costume to buy street treats/dinner and enjoy the whole vibe with family.

(Later, it gets sillier, when kids go home, and the teens are out alone.)

Lots of great costumes, but as a rule I don't take pictures of random kids (wild, I know), so this mob shot will have to do.

#Colombia

🙃 I did a lot of emotional labour after a meeting today. I know things will get easier after your election next week, and everyone won't be redirecting their stress to other parts of their lives, but for now...

Whew.

This support Canadian is tapping out, and going for a wee wander on Halloween night for pictures, before sending out a story and a newsletter!

(Also, FYI: If you need to visit after Nov 5 for any reason, please bring your own air mattresses or let me know in advance to stock up!)

Today I'm swamped again. Lots of work to be done to end the month on a good note. (Wasn't quite satisfied with yesterday's newsletter draft, either, so that needs to go up soon, too.)

But first - we run. 💪🏻 Morning, CoSo!

Now, having said that about *other* people, I'm planning on a super minimalist November, to unclutter my own body & mind and turn my attention to "coaxing weakness & inspiring strength" for better mental, physical, & worldly habits.

I won't talk about one of my plans here, because I don't want to trigger folk on certain journeys of self-healing, but I'd like to rethink a lot of my own choices & tease out the flawed/reactive thinking in them.

What's *your* favourite approach to personal growth?

but worse is seeing them with no idea how to off-ramp from extremism, so they just info-silo deeper & defend even more staunchly views they *should* be able to let go of via new data as it arises.

Seeing how quickly humans can and do become apologists for terrible acts, it's hard not to empathize with those who are now slowly coming to realize that their views were wrong, but who don't have the tools to walk back to decency yet, because they've been caught up in the propaganda for too long. 3/3

From there, we talked about how that fear of being seen as a bad person leads people (usually men, in my experience) to rush to defend someone who's done wrong: racist, nationalist, sexist. They're so afraid of being called out themselves one day, they'd rather fight society's criticism of another than interrogate their own actions and pursue change.

And that fear shapes so many problems in our society. I know plenty of people I consider to be deeply in the wrong wrt political morality - 2/3

Yesterday's meeting with the "far-right curious" person I mentioned went better than expected.

He's of the "it's only fascism if it refers to an Italian state policy of workers bundled into guilds" persuasion, but using the 1940s film I wrote about a few weeks back, I actually got him to realize that even fascists of the era had a range of buy-ins to various forms of the movement - just like the range of "everyday conservatives" he worries are stigmatized unduly for liking extremists today. 1/3

🤔 More news?

No! More moos.

#MooCows

This Tough Times Tuesday is a little different--an elaborate analogy written to get at the emotional heart of US election anxieties--and next week I'll be posting a short story on the big day instead.

There's just no point to adding directly to all the gamified election coverage we're all going to be enduring for the next while.

Stay as sane as seems reasonable! Touch grass! And vote if you can!

#Democracy #Politics #US #Election2024 #Extremism
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/on-pizza-and-cannibals-or-why-this

Wee working break to make guacamole and eggs. Sometimes I just have to stare lovingly at the avocado, though. So fresh, so juicy, so big. What a gift the little pleasures in life always are. #CoSoFood