For the past manic month, I felt like a college student finishing her thesis, tying up loose ends for my 3 consulting jobs, overdosing on Zoom meetings, and, when I couldn’t think straight anymore, spending late nights filling my garage to declutter my dad’s house getting ready it to put it on the market. This was all done with nagging anxiety about my own housing situation in preparation for a long overdue knee replacement, which happened (successfully!) last Tuesday.
All the while, I got a real taste of how speaking out in local politics can be an emotionally draining experience. Since my last Substack post, Writing from Higher Ground, two of my OP EDS1 were published in local newspapers to address mis-and-dis-information about a controversial public-private housing project in Victor. And for that, I’ve taken a lot of heat.
It’s an all-to-common story of how a well-intentioned neighbor mixing misinformation with facts can quickly escalate into a public outcry when the public feels they have not been adequately informed of every step in the process. Understandably, even when the local government's intentions are good, missteps in the public process lead to the appearance of a lack of transparency and an inevitable breakdown of trust.
My attempts to set the record straight in support of decisions we made as City Councilmembers were conflated into accusations of close-mindedness and bias and even requests to recuse myself from future decisions because I wrote in support of past decisions. Sadly, it came down to an attempt to silence me from well-respected women in my community. To this, I reply:
“We can’t dismantle the patriarchy using the tools of the patriarchy.”
Thankfully, the City is listening and pivoting and will hold a neighborhood meeting in the coming days before any more decisions are ratified. It will also tighten legal documents in response to valid concerns, making the process, while painful, all worth it. Meanwhile, I’ve got this absolutely-spot-on-guide-for-liberals-including-me-to-look-closely-in-the-mirror podcast playing on repeat in the back of my mind.
What made this especially difficult is that local politics is so deeply personal. The emotional toll of weathering these attacks from people I care about while also trying to do the job I was elected to do has been overwhelming. It's a level of personal investment and vulnerability that isn't present in higher-level politics. I hope I can navigate these challenges with professionalism and resilience by staying focused on the issues, building relationships across divides, and caring for my emotional well-being.
This is a time for disengagement and retreat. In stillness you are out of the reach of danger.
It is inherent in the design of life that forces of darkness and disruption come into prominence from time to time. This hexagram indicates that this is such a time and advises you to respond by quietly retreating. To struggle or resist in anger now is to add fuel to the fire of negativity which threatens to consume you.
The superior person accepts that there is a natural ebb and flow between the forces of light and dark in the world. Wisdom lies not in resisting these movements but in responding to them appropriately. Just as a plant which sprouts in the dead of winter is doomed, and one which sprouts in spring flourishes, so it is with us. Success and prosperity accrue to those who advance in times of light and retreat in times of darkness. To retreat now is to benefit, in the end, from the changing tides.
Retreat is not the same thing as surrender, capitulation, or abandonment, which are desperate and unsatisfying measures. Neither is it characterized by a hardening into angry or punitive emotions. It is instead an acceptance and a choice: we calmly accept that the energies of the moment are against us, and we wisely choose to withdraw into the safety of stillness. In this dignified and balanced manner we protect ourselves from negative influences and arrive rested in a more beneficial hour.
When one cheerfully accepts the necessity of retreat, the path becomes easy and clear
“Think not of the amount to be accomplished, the difficulties to be overcome, or the end to be attained, but set earnestly at the little task at your elbow, letting that be sufficient for the day ~ Sir William Osler, physician (1849-1919).
“Sometimes you don’t know when you’re turning to the next chapter of your life, but this time it was clear. I lifted my fingertips, turned to a clean page, held the pen, and now I could write out whatever I wanted to be next. I was at a new chapter. I stopped to take notice. I envisioned the blank pages and a pen in my hand. I didn’t rush to flip the page and move into something new. I realized how much space I had to create whatever I wanted this to be. The power was in my hands. I didn't want to rush writing it. There was beauty, I realized, in the space I now had.”
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You’re amazing friend. Hang in there, you’re an inspiration.
You have had your hands full Sue. Amazing that you take on so many tasks. Be well. Retreat sounds soothing.