For When Things Feel Like They're Moving Backward
Everyone I know is grieving. And while their grief didn’t begin this month, the U.S. election results have certainly exacerbated the anger, sadness, frustration, anxiety, and despair. Over and over again, we’ve been pushed to become increasingly accustomed to mass death and dehumanization, while also experiencing repressive backlash for trying to interrupt it. Refusal to accept the normalization of trauma and loss continues to be pathologized, with space for processing, resting, or release rare or non-existent.
Nearly every message coming out of social media since November 5 has been steeped in rush and urgency. Directives to form mutual aid groups, join revolutionary organizations, and escalate direct actions are abundant and very, very public. With the stakes as high as they are, losing any chance to educate and mobilize others seems like a missed opportunity and waiting to act for any reason seems untenable and impossible.
It's true that action is needed more than inaction, and mass movement building is essential regardless of elected and appointed officials’ political affiliations. We cannot afford to depend on a legacy media, philanthropic sector, and centrist electoral infrastructure that believes it can direct the ebbs and flows of social justice energy and engagement. But it’s also true that moving quickly at the expense of moving intentionally will likely bring more harm to our communities and movements, especially if public and semi-public social media invitations, unmoderated comment threads, and unvetted group chats are presented as the best on-ramps to new or returning involvement.
What if instead of rushing to analyze or prescribe, each of us took just a few days, hours, or even minutes to think not just about what to do next but about how to do it in right relationship with ourselves and those around us? What if we - especially those not connected to ongoing community, mutual aid, or organizing projects - took a moment to think about how we want to make change, who is already doing work in those spheres, where our energy is most useful, and what we need to stay connected now and in the long-term?
We’re about to find ourselves in the midst of multiple planetary retrogrades. Scientifically, what this means is that a given planet (Mars, for example) appears to be moving backwards because its rate of solar revolution slows in relationship to the Earth. These planets are, of course, still moving in the direction they always have been, even if their journeys don’t appear linear or direct.
The most commonly known planetary retrograde is the frequently shifting Mercury, which is currently in a pre-retrograde “shadow period” perfect for contemplation and preparation. On November 25, it stations retrograde for three weeks before exiting another “shadow period” at the new year. Spiritually and energetically, Mercury is associated with communication, travel, and thought. Its retrograde period can mean ruptures in communication, relationships, and interaction, providing even more reason to move with humility and care.
“This is a time to be even more consistent and clear in our communication, intentional and thoughtful in our decision making, and discerning and paced in our desire to start new projects and adventures. It’s a time for us to sit with ourselves for a moment and gain insight into what we want to build, grow, learn, or accomplish before jumping too quickly into argument or action. It’s a moment where those who haven’t been regularly engaged in community work, mutual aid, or political action can decide how to most usefully enter into it. It’s an opening for seasoned and skilled organizers to explore how to best invite new people in. ”
Some questions that I'm asking myself include:
• What are my communication strengths?
• Where do I need to improve, and how can I do that?
• How can I learn to apologize better?
• How do I receive feedback from others, and how can I improve?
• What care do I need, from myself and others, to be able to communicate in the spaces I'm in and want to be in?
• How can the spaces I hold for others make more room for neurodivergent ways of communicating?
• How can others best communicate with me, and how can I share that information with them?
• How do I like to learn new information and think about social change?
• Where am I getting my information? Which perspectives are included, and which ones are missing?
Here are some resources to explore during this Mercury Retrograde period to strengthen communication for community building and organizing work:
• Pod Mapping Worksheets from Mia Mingus / SOIL
• How to Give a Genuine Apology from Mia Mingus
• The Critical Thinking Guide zine from N. Oumou Sylla
• Centered Accountability Course from Daria / Mapping Accountability
• Organizer Conflict Archetypes from Safer Movements Collective
• Various offerings from Spring Up Collective
I’ll also found hope and grounding in the recent words of Kelly Hayes and Scot Nakagawa.
Mercury stations direct again on December 15, a brief slow down while it continues its journey around the sun. Each of us deserves this too. Opposing fascism, capitalism, militarization, destruction, and dehumanization often feels like a non-stop struggle. Building our individual and collective practices of interaction and relationship can only fortify our broader movements. We have always needed each other as much as we’re going to in these times to come, and it’s up to us to determine how to move and not just what we’re moving towards and away from. Like Mercury, let us not retreat or reverse course, but take a moment of slower pace to prepare for whatever comes next.
It’s a lot to hold. I had originally planned to start sharing my writing at Seollal [설날] 2025, the Lunar New Year, but found myself deep in contemplation on the morning after Election Day. Like many others, I’m always experimenting, learning, and reflecting on what it will take to get us closer and closer to liberation. As I write, I hope to share learnings, contemplations, and resources for community and movement building through the particular lenses that guide me: earth-centered spirituality, Unitarian Universalist values, Disability Justice, abolitionist strategy, and visionary organizing.
If you don’t closely follow or pay attention to planetary, lunar, or seasonal cycles, I hope that you’ll stay open to what they have to teach us as organizers, care workers, and fellow humans. If you’re not sure how to find community or where to start, I guarantee that they’re probably closer than you might think. In the meantime, new organizers and activists may find the How Do I Take Action Where I Am? workshop series to be a helpful launching pad.
Thank you for being here, and I hope you’ll stick around.