Thistle Wisdom and Imagination in a Time of Crisis

Hello Courageous Thrivers,

On Sunday, I spent a couple of hours in my yard working to remove Asian Knotweed and thistles. Last year I fought them. This year, I’ve surrendered to the fact that we are in a dance, not a battle. And if we were in a battle—they would win anyway.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t set some boundaries. And say, “No, not here.”

So I put on gloves and long sleeves and listened to the thistles as I pulled them up, once again.

As a result, I have some thistle wisdom to share with you as we keep going, keep going, keep going during these very challenging times.

• Thistles are persistent. They don’t give up easily.
  → We can be persistent too.

• Thistles go deep underground and connect to each other—it’s very difficult to get rid of them because they just pop up elsewhere from the same root system.
  → We can develop strong, underground root systems—beloved economies of care that cannot easily be obliterated.

• They clearly get what they need from soil that’s considered to be poor for most plants.
  → We each have an ideal environment for our thriving—what’s yours? And if you can’t access it fully right now, how do you go deep to find the nourishment you need?

• Thistles are prickly. You cannot ignore them. If you choose to ignore them, it hurts.
  → Give yourself permission to be prickly. You don’t have to go after people like the yellow jackets do—you can just stand your ground when you have a prickly truth to share.

• If you want to get rid of thistles, fighting them as if they are the enemy is highly unlikely to work—and it’s exhausting. But if you slow down, cover them with black plastic and newspaper so they don’t have access to light and rain... eventually just a few will make it through, and they are easy to deal with one at a time.
  → What is the “newspaper and black plastic” approach to this polycrisis that is calling us to pay attention before it gets even more destructive?
  

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. I’ll go first:

I think our imaginations can be part of this approach. We can keep imagining new possibilities.

• Schools where children thrive and grow, where there’s no punishment or ranking or failing.

• Economies in which everyone thrives, by design.

• Communities in which we can disagree and still treat each other with respect—loving our differences and feeling a sense of belonging together even when we aren’t the same.
  

I believe that as we refuse to live in the imaginations of white supremacist, capitalist, colonialist patriarchy—which is where we are right now—it weakens.

As we imagine new possibilities, we start to take small steps toward creating them—instead of tearing up our bodies, minds, and hearts with the high-cortisol life of living in constant anxiety and fear.

We can be like the thistles. Persistent, hard to ignore, well-nourished, connected, and well-supported.

And we can be like the gardener who says, “You are not my enemy. But no, not here.”

Here’s to thriving and equity,
Deb

P.S. Want to imagine new possibilities while you’re driving or cooking or weeding?

I did this podcast interview last year, but just re-listened to it and it actually has some pretty good stuff in it that’s still very relevant. I was encouraged by my own words!

If you listen, I’d love to know:
→ What insight did you take away?
→ What do you disagree with?
→ What do you have questions about?

Another resource that I found helpful.  “Don't Let the News Overwhelm You.  Use This Tool to Stay Engaged.”