Power Lines
We have more power than we know. It’s time to use it.
I frequently dream about events before they happen. Sometimes I’ll have a frightening dream before a terrible event; I wrote here about a dream I had before Trump was elected the first time. And sometimes the images that come are beautiful and encouraging, even when the event the dream refers to is not. (This Facebook post describes a dream I had the morning before Trump won the second time.)
On July 3 of this year, I dreamed:
I’m on a crowded city sidewalk. I look down the street and see something moving on top of a tall power pole. It’s a black bear standing up! As I watch, it transforms into a white bear and moves along power lines high over the street to the other side. The creature then turns to its left and moves along power lines that run along the street across from where I am standing. As it moves, it transforms into a huge white whale. Stunned, hardly believing my eyes, I shout to my companions, “Look! Do you see that? It’s a white whale!” One other person says they do see it.
To be clear, the white whale was not a beluga; it was a larger whale like a humpback that is not usually white.
Later that day, after a marathon eight-and-a-half-hour speech from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republicans in the US House of Representatives passed the Big Ugly Bill. This bill makes tax cuts for rich people permanent while drastically cutting government programs and services for the rest of us, particularly health care. Trump wanted the bill passed and signed by July 4, the anniversary of the day when representatives of the thirteen American colonies signed the Declaration of Independence from the oppressive English monarchy. Trump’s signing of the bill debased the meaning of the day, as he seeks, and is gaining, king-like powers that undermine our democracy. My heart sank; I felt discouraged for days.
The dream reminds me that we humans are not alone on the planet and that we have power that might not always be apparent to us. It provides a beautiful, inspiring vision. In the dream, it’s a shared vision.
In just the last week, our collective power has yielded tangible results. Disney backed down on sidelining Jimmy Kimmel indefinitely. The Seattle City Council closed three glaring loopholes in the tree protection code that have allowed developers to clearcut lots more easily. These may feel small compared to the destruction that looms larger and more terrifying every day. But they have a real impact. Humor is one of the most powerful weapons against autocracy, and comedians are among a dictator’s first targets. The loopholes that tree advocates relentlessly pressured the Seattle City Council to close had caused the destruction of hundreds if not thousands of trees, including a beautiful grove of five large native conifers in my neighborhood. Many more trees will now be protected.
These victories are just the beginning of what we can achieve if we work together in harmony with the natural world to restore balance and justice.