You’re fantastic at what you do, Rachel, which I’d say is courageously talking straight about the right issues, asking the right questions and sharing what you find in a really pleasing and accessible way. A real difference maker in a world in crisis. Opposite of phony. I’ve learned more from your show than any hands down. Tops and thanks and please never stop. 😊
This is so insanely beautiful. To read it feels like letting out a maniacal laugh after seeing or doing something so out of the ordinary and so simply just, the type of justice you feel in your core of core, that makes you feel fully alive. On this theme, I highly recommend the book Joyful Militancy to the readers out there.
Lovely piece and i fully endorse lol your correct analysis of power (as ego) and it's puncturing as it's defeat - and it has to be defeated 'idealy' before materially else not at all...
Your journalistic skills as an interviewer to draw out your guests is what makes your programs/posts so insightful, it seems to me. Also, it appears that you've taken Rees to heart and extrapolated what that looks like during a transition to God knows what. (I share that interview when I can.)
(I consider you one of my climate mentors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiSsAwp-v8M or just search YouTube for Situational Awareness – Second Picture of the Same Weather Pattern.)
Thank you. This is so energizing! Better than coffee! I love how you play with the meaning of words for deeper insight. Mockery is so powerful. I appreciate the reminder of the communal nature of this type of protest. Look at the trouble Extinction Rebellion get up to. Or Just Stop Oil or Tyre Extinguisher. Or Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. https://revbilly.com/
Love your POV, Rachel. You're one of the 'new' experts we need on every stage. But give some thought to consciousness as 'oops.' That's why we believe we're monkeys. Once past that myth, the world will right itself.
It's the cracks that grace gets through - Intro or preface to writings of Simone Weil in "Gravity and Grace ". The Shakespeare's Fool and the Hopi Trickster. Paradigm Crisis of Thomas Kuhn. Arthur Koestler's Act of Creation. Wikipedia Homo Ludens. But remember: the people, united, will often win, and sometimes lose.
But go on anyway.
As Australian author Clive Hamilton memorably concludes in his Requiem for a Species (2010) on climate science and denial: we don't have to take (omnicide) sitting down... "Despair, Accept, Act. If we stop at the acceptance stage (of grief) we risk becoming "mired in passivity and fatalism. Only by acting, and acting ethically, can we redeem our humanity."
This analysis of the role of carnival and the comedic is, personally, very pertinent to the moment. The upside down world that has been normalised, which in turn crashes the mental well-being of the many people as well as the health of the planet, is a concept worth exploring in great depth.
As a comic performer and facilitator of comedic workshops and events, I often grapple with how my pull towards activism intersects with my desire to develop the comedic within myself and others. This article has given me a lightbulb moment, a revelation that my pull towards activism and my ongoing comedic ventures are both parts of the same process.
The world is absurd and we do so often allow ourselves to be hoodwinked by those who believe themselves to be the serious grown-ups amongst us: the politicians, business leaders, writers of worthy articles in the mainstream information ecosystems, the people in suits etc.
Rachel, you are spot on in identifying this theme and laying bare the fact that in the UK, we can't even get the concept of carnival righ!
You’re fantastic at what you do, Rachel, which I’d say is courageously talking straight about the right issues, asking the right questions and sharing what you find in a really pleasing and accessible way. A real difference maker in a world in crisis. Opposite of phony. I’ve learned more from your show than any hands down. Tops and thanks and please never stop. 😊
This is so insanely beautiful. To read it feels like letting out a maniacal laugh after seeing or doing something so out of the ordinary and so simply just, the type of justice you feel in your core of core, that makes you feel fully alive. On this theme, I highly recommend the book Joyful Militancy to the readers out there.
Lovely piece and i fully endorse lol your correct analysis of power (as ego) and it's puncturing as it's defeat - and it has to be defeated 'idealy' before materially else not at all...
Yes! a thousand times yes. thanks for the attitude adjustment!
Your journalistic skills as an interviewer to draw out your guests is what makes your programs/posts so insightful, it seems to me. Also, it appears that you've taken Rees to heart and extrapolated what that looks like during a transition to God knows what. (I share that interview when I can.)
(I consider you one of my climate mentors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiSsAwp-v8M or just search YouTube for Situational Awareness – Second Picture of the Same Weather Pattern.)
"When was the last time you laughed til you wept, alone? Never."
Clearly someone has never taken 500mg of THC lol.
Seriously though, great piece!
I'm reminded of a Kurt Vonnegut quote, “A sane person to an insane society must appear insane.”
Keep up the good fight.
Hahaha excellent comment.
Thank you. This is so energizing! Better than coffee! I love how you play with the meaning of words for deeper insight. Mockery is so powerful. I appreciate the reminder of the communal nature of this type of protest. Look at the trouble Extinction Rebellion get up to. Or Just Stop Oil or Tyre Extinguisher. Or Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. https://revbilly.com/
LOL you are levity 🙃
Love your POV, Rachel. You're one of the 'new' experts we need on every stage. But give some thought to consciousness as 'oops.' That's why we believe we're monkeys. Once past that myth, the world will right itself.
Wonderful piece. Thank you!
Nice one Rachel.
It's the cracks that grace gets through - Intro or preface to writings of Simone Weil in "Gravity and Grace ". The Shakespeare's Fool and the Hopi Trickster. Paradigm Crisis of Thomas Kuhn. Arthur Koestler's Act of Creation. Wikipedia Homo Ludens. But remember: the people, united, will often win, and sometimes lose.
But go on anyway.
As Australian author Clive Hamilton memorably concludes in his Requiem for a Species (2010) on climate science and denial: we don't have to take (omnicide) sitting down... "Despair, Accept, Act. If we stop at the acceptance stage (of grief) we risk becoming "mired in passivity and fatalism. Only by acting, and acting ethically, can we redeem our humanity."
Saw this and thought of you! https://youtu.be/eKd_iNZeqS8?si=Gt5L8lMbYO3JFwFU
"We grant authority by taking things seriously. We disempower them with laughter." Brilliant! Completely true! Love your writing. 🩷
This analysis of the role of carnival and the comedic is, personally, very pertinent to the moment. The upside down world that has been normalised, which in turn crashes the mental well-being of the many people as well as the health of the planet, is a concept worth exploring in great depth.
As a comic performer and facilitator of comedic workshops and events, I often grapple with how my pull towards activism intersects with my desire to develop the comedic within myself and others. This article has given me a lightbulb moment, a revelation that my pull towards activism and my ongoing comedic ventures are both parts of the same process.
The world is absurd and we do so often allow ourselves to be hoodwinked by those who believe themselves to be the serious grown-ups amongst us: the politicians, business leaders, writers of worthy articles in the mainstream information ecosystems, the people in suits etc.
Rachel, you are spot on in identifying this theme and laying bare the fact that in the UK, we can't even get the concept of carnival righ!
Many thanks.
Fantastic piece, thank you, Rachel