life is weird

and weird is neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so

Hello dear friends,

I’ve been standing on the edge of this swirly Substack pool for almost 3 months now, clutching my kick board, and dealing with my over-thinky brain. 

But today is the day to dive in.

If resistance is the first step towards flow, then I am well ready. For in fact I’ve been circling various versions of ‘start a newsletter’ for well over 15 years. 

I remember the night back when I was living in the camper-van and parked outside my friend Helen’s house in Camperdown. Sitting at her kitchen table she coached me to start up a FaceBook account. 

It felt like walking into a big scary party after being away living in the country for a long time. But as soon as my account went live people started popping up from the past with requests. I was stunned (and of course needed to ‘think about it’) but Helen was there at my elbow going ‘friend them, friend them!’ 

And as many of you know, I love the FB mini-world we have created. And maybe with some helpful nudges I might find a way to create something here in a small corner of Substack-world. 🌻

So here goes - I’ve never been able to successfully ‘niche’, so here’s an unholy mix of politics, poetry, a nifty cleaning hack, a writing quote, and some timely memes about how the bunny became associated with Easter. 

*

1. 🇵🇸 Gaza.

How can this even still be happening — when we have seen it on live video for almost 6 months now? 

Thank you to all who have written, posted, shared, marched, gathered, cried, witnessed and lobbied politicians about this. It is astonishing that today is the first day that the Australian Senate has passed a resolution (tabled by the Greens) calling for a Cease fire. 

I’m sure you already follow some Pro-Palestine groups and writers on your socials. 

[Here’s a few on Instagram — @omarsakrpoet, @wizard_bisan1, @paddyoreilly.writer, @israelismfilm, @JewishCouncil (of Australia), @rashidamurphy, @avivatuffield, and so many others.]

And here’s a few videos and articles by pro-Palestine Jewish voices that I highly recommend:

*—- Gabor Maté and sons — ‘Gaza besieged, Jews Divided, and a World in Pain.’

This is a wonderful wide-ranging discussion between the deeply compassionate trauma therapist Gabor Maté, who was a child in Germany during the Holocaust, and his two sons. They discuss the legacy of inter-generational trauma, growing up Zionist and then learning about history, and the terrible cost of trying to create a sense of ‘safety’ through violence.

*—A beautiful piece from Jewish writer, Amanda Gelender:

Here’s a quote from it:
“[M]y beloved Jewish people are driving this bus off the cliff. Can you feel this empire of dust crumbling to the ground? Is bombing really a balm for your crushed spirit?…

    When I see Gaza, I am the Palestinians. I do not see myself in the face of an Israeli soldier — why should I? Because we are both Jewish? I see a colonizer, an occupier, a violent settler. I see someone willing to keep their boot on the neck of Palestine until she dies in the street.

    Tell me the story again, zayde. Of David and Goliath, of Palestine and Israel, of a stone vs a tank. Tell me again who you are and tell me the truth this time."

*— an interview with Israeli historian and author, Ilan Pappé  ‘The Zionist project is coming to an end’. Just listening to the start of this I began to cry — you can feel his heart breaking.

*— And this magnificent and clear-sighted interview with Louise Adler from Four Corners — from back in December

In this — as Director of the Adelaide Festival — she defends the right and the role of artists to engage with contemporary political issues, and the right of Festival Directors to program Palestine writers and pro-Palestinian Israeli’s (like Ilan Pappé, above) and resist the pressure to be silent. 

Talking about her grandfather murdered in the Holocaust and her father who joined the Resistance at 14 years old, Adler says: 

"His legacy to me is that it is important and it is vital for us to not look away. That we all have a choice. That the world looked away during the second world war, and Jews - six million of our people -  were murdered in that looking away. And it is incumbent upon humanity to look at what is happening in Gaza now, and to say 'We will not accept this. We will say no, not in our name'."

#Free Palestine!

*

2. Poetry. Lit Balm is a NY based weekly poetry zoom reading and I was delighted to be a guest reader last Sunday along with three excellent Australian poets — Willo Drummond, Magdalena Ball, and Kate Rees. We initially met via writing events and then started meeting on zoom as a small support group because we liked each other’s work so much, and through this have formed a deep friendship. So it was wonderful to read with them. Here’s the recording. My reading starts at the 53 min mark but do listen to the others too as their readings were terrific - as are their recent books — Moon Wrasse (Willo), Bobish (Maggie), and Come the Bones (Kate). 

And please excuse my grogginess… it was 8am in the morning here, which is early for me. 🦉🧛‍♀️

Or if you’d like to go straight to where I’m reading some new poems from the book I’ve recently finished writing — this link takes you to that spot -

 *

3. ‘After enlightenment, chop wood’ is a famous Buddhist saying. So it might seem weird to segue from genocide and poetry to mops, but it also felt kind of symbolic. We have to keep cleaning our houses and chopping food while we also work through anger and grief and take political action and make art. And that is weird. But if we want to be in it for the long haul, we need to manage all of it — all of the tears and the laughter as well, and all the practical things. And I have a great fondness for things that make tasks easier, and for being able to transform things in all sorts of ways (dirty to clean - magic!). 

 And I share this not because my house is particularly clean at the moment (sadly it’s not, but that’s another story), but because the parts that matter are clean enough, even with a bodgy shoulder and diminishing energy, thanks to my trusty Velida mop. 

So here’s my latest cleaning hack:

I have one of those Velida mops that has microfibre strands like fettuccine, and with a slightly scratchy textured bit near the handle for scrubbing at the stubborn bits. And lately I’ve been using it for cleaning windows — including the windows and lights on the car — cleaning the shower, even giving the kitchen cupboard doors a once over. So much easier than bending and scrubbing. 

And afterwards you just pull off the mop part and chuck it in the washing machine. (Along with any other brushes, bath mats, plastic soap dishes, etc.)

You’re welcome. (And of course any mop might do, but this is the one I like.)

*

4. My favourite writing quote this week:

"He [Malcolm McLaren] taught me not to be frightened, that creativity was all a question of attention to detail and working through problems one by one. There was no magic to it - just painstaking work." —Vivienne Westwood

*

5. And the one you’ve been waiting for
— how Bunnies got associated with Easter: two versions — 

or maybe this:

*

Happy long weird religious weekend to you all. Remember, you don’t have to stock up on food for the millennium on Thursday night. Shops will be open again on Saturday!

Here’s the link to subscribe if you’re not already a subscriber. And if you know someone who might like this kind of weirdness — please send them along. 

(note: if this says ‘become a paid subscriber’ ignore that - there is no paid subscription, it just means you’re already a subscriber. Thank you!!)

Xxx Beth 

ps and you can also join me on Facebook, or I can be found on any of the socials @bethspen - altho these days I go there less and less. But that might change.