Dear reader,
In the past twenty days, we have lost, at the very least, 7,028 unique Palestinian voices, faces, laughs, stories, & dreams. We have lost, also, 7,028 different ways of making coffee, braiding hair, telling jokes, blushing before a kiss… the list goes on. Tell me something human & I will tell you that we, in only twenty days, have lost (at the very least) 7,028 versions of it. Not to mention the olive trees & art & libraries. Not to mention…
And what about in the next twenty days?
And for what?
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For the past week I have been thinking about the idea of “performative activism” as it is so called & slung around on social media. I have been thinking that, actually, all activism is performative: the two need one another. To act, in the end, is to perform [something].
And I have nothing but reverence for performance. I do it every month, whenever I can & am able. It is one of the ways I can truly, actually give something of my love & my gifts back to the world.
The word perform can be broken down to the Latin:
Per meaning "through," also "throughout; thoroughly; entirely, utterly"
+
fournir/fornir meaning “to complete, to furnish”
And so, combining these two together we arrive at this: Performance, i.e. to complete something thoroughly.
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I used to be so shy. I was terrified to perform. (To complete something fully?) Now, I embrace it.
So what changed? I don’t know. But I do know, that in my heart I had to sing & to read my poems aloud. And then, I had to teach & make potions with plants & also to play my weird music in front of people.
These are the ways in which things fully of & full of my heart are completed, utterly.
And you, I wonder, how might you embrace your right to perform, to act upon what is right? What you know is right in your heart?
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In the past month, we have collectively been witnessing the terrors & brutality that humanity is capable of. And it is overwhelming & it is devastating & there has yet to be an end in sight of the bombing over Gaza.
So how to act?
How to perform from the heart?
I think it is different for everyone but at the bare minimum, all of us can converse, & bear witness, & we can pray.
And so: talk about what is going on in the world right now with your friends & family, with your communities. Pray. It will all be uncomfortable & that is good, I promise you, it means something is happening.
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I think back to the missive from the beginning of the month & the invitation to remember. To feel your way through. To remember your body, to move slow, when you let your bare feet touch the soft earth.
Remembering is a prayer.
Remembering that you-me-each of us are all interconnected in the most intricate fabric. A fabric we can hardly comprehend. A fabric whose first thread was placed through the eye of the needle of time—at time’s very creation.
This fabric is our collective creation myth. It is our original origin story. And it is being woven every day, every day. This fabric spills out in all directions & is embroidered with every instance of existence: all that has been & there is still space for all that will be.
Fabric ripples.
What happens to you, I will feel.
What happens to me, you will feel.
What happens to one of us, happens to all of us.
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Biting into an apple is a prayer. Tears are a prayer. The imagination is a prayer. Salt is a prayer, so is the oak. Your body is a prayer, a sigh is a prayer, your voice is a prayer, your hands are a prayer, practice is a prayer. Life is always praying.
And moreso when you bring attention to this, moreso when you remember that life is a prayer.
And knowing this then you can, you will know how to act from the heart, to perform what you know is right & true.
A prayer is a performative act. It is an intention brought to completion through its utterance.
And prayer is an ask. When you don’t do what to do, you ask, don’t you?
Remember. Go slow. Feel your way through.
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Before I leave you today, I want to share with you the month’s Rhythm/Devotion interview.
I want to share it with you because, at its core, this series is about remembering. It is about how our actions, how we perform in the world, have an incredible impact on everything & everyone around us.
When we bring attention to our days, to how we move through the world, it also changes everything. And it brings us in touch with the sacred, it truly does. It is a practice. A practice to show up to the sacred in a world that can at times be so unforgivingly cruel & punishing.
So.
Please, please let me introduce you to a beautiful poet & tarot reader.
Her name is Marta & we met at some show or other here or there in North Carolina. In August, Marta read some of her poems at a show I curated in Chapel Hill. It was one of the last days of the month & unbearably unbearably hot. The performances were happening outside & so, there truly was no escape from the heat.
By the time Marta sat down to read, the light was falling. I brought a candelabra to place in front of her. And as she read, it was as if she were calling down the night & its cool relief. And as she read, it was as if an invisible hand came & brushed at the trees because suddenly, gentle brown leaves began to flutter down all around her. And as she read, she invited us into an invocation with her, a prayer.
I have many favorite moments in Marta’s Rhythm/Devotion, but here is one that really struck me:
Before I get to write I love to read. I feel that reading is the key to something in my brain that needs to get unlocked before I write. Sometimes my writing takes me to a different reading, and that directs me to write again. I like long sessions in which I intertwine reading and writing. I don’t believe in genius or authorial voices based on originality. We are all constantly in psychic conversation, even when we’re alone.
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Enjoy the rest of Marta’s beautiful & insightful interview by following this link, or clicking on the photo of her being a simply gorgeous magician below:
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One last bit for you today:
I leave you with this song by Julie Felix which I have been playing on repeat today. A reminder. A prayer.
Take care of yourself, of one another ~
With my heart, with love/
Chanelle Allesandre
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I was informed the link for Marta's R//D was not working!
Here you go:
https://www.chanelleallesandre.com/post/rhythm-devotion-of-marta