A State of Union
And harmony and other good things in 2024
Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Year on the 29th of January? If you feel neglected as a reader of Unapologetically Evie, you’re not alone. The suitcase lying half unpacked on my bedroom floor from a ski trip I took over the holidays shares your sentiments. I even miss me and my writing. About the only thing that hasn’t been neglected over the past several weeks are my backyard chickens and that’s only because I’ve come to prefer poultry to people. I’m not sure they enjoy my company as much as I like theirs or if they just want the leftover oatmeal and meal worms I bring them each morning. Doesn’t matter, I guess, so long as they come running to see me when I step outside the backdoor. I’ve been neglecting my writing and many mundane duties of life not by choice but out of necessity. I am deep in the trenches of relocating my business to Idaho from Nevada, which involves building out a 5000 square foot distribution kitchen and our first storefront market. Exciting stuff in the works but it turns out there is a limit to my capacity for creative output after all. Cōpow is demanding my attention right now in a way that isn’t leaving much creativity for writing. And I like to adhere to the adage, if you don’t have anything interesting to say, don’t say anything at all, so here we are, the last few days of January and I’m publishing my first article of the year.
I thought the title was quite catchy and would draw a decent audience. At least an audience greater than the actual State of the Union address scheduled for March 7th. We know, we know, Grandpa Joe, you started the civil rights movement by attending Bethel AME Church more than any black or white person you know. Lucky for you this article is not about the State of the Union, but rather a state of union. Being in union, which is where I will put my attention in 2024.
2023 was a year of deep healing for me. Learning to wrestle my old, worthy adversary - alcohol, moving away from self-loathing into real self-worth, reconnecting to my feminine and discovering a union with God that has been there all along, although I could not see it. No, I didn’t find God at Bethel AME Church or the Catholic Church where I grew up, nor have I turned into a religious zealot who will now fill the pages of my publication claiming to have come to know the Lord. I just flushed all the junk, like self-doubt, anger, anxiety and fear out of me and God just started working through me. Me showing up as me, and what do ya you know, there’s my Creator. Easy enough - only took me the better part of 50 years to figure it out (and an ayahuasca trip to Peru.)
At the end of each year, I spend the month of December reflecting back on all the things that went pretty well, and all the things that didn’t and then make some plans to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t moving forward. I’d like to think of myself as much more sophisticated than those who set New Year’s resolutions like losing 20 lbs. or learning the guitar, but maybe I’m not. It wouldn’t be a surprise because what I have found to be true is that I’m much less important and unique than I thought of myself in my thirties and forties. Yet much more important in the world than I ever believed before. I matter to everyone, yet to no one at the same time. (Excuse the shameless plug for my upcoming book: You Matter - to everyone yet to no one.) I wouldn’t call what I do a resolution, but rather a narrowed focus for my attention. After all, as the great thinker Dr. Iain McGilchrist would say, attention is a moral act and that to which we give our attention is what we bring into being. This year I will be focusing on union, because I’m seeking a deeper union with the things I already have in my life. I usually spend my time and attention casting a wider net, but this is the year to go deep rather than wide. I have so much to be grateful for, why not go deeper with these things rather than seeking more? Plus the world at large could use a massive dose of austerity so it’s up to me to bring that into the world right? Lord knows we can’t expect those in charge to do that for us, so we better be ready to step up ourselves. If it doesn’t start with us, we can’t expect it to happen.
Last year, I titled my focus, doing less to become more, and I declare it a massive success. I did less drinking, less worrying, less hating, less judging, less obsessing, less scrolling, less isolating, less controlling, and less talking, and it turned out to be the most transformational year of my life. Doing less of all the things that do not serve me freed up all sorts of time and energy to do more of what does. More reading, more traveling, more listening, and more time in a state of receptivity, brought me to a more beautiful state of being. Upon reflection, I recognize I came into a state of union with people and things in a way I had never been before, hence the focus on union for the coming year. Because I was doing less of the things listed above, I made room inside and when I did, amazing people started to show up. It seemed as if without much effort at all, people with kindred spirits came dancing their way into my life. A lovely woman who was willing to take in my roosters, which I couldn’t keep in the city limits, is now going to be supplying my food company with her farm fresh eggs. Not just that, but we have a great deal of potential to expand our business partnership going forward. Dining in a historic home, about twenty years older than mine, in Savannah, Georgia, our waiter happened to be the owner of the restaurant. Turns out, aside from the James Beard Awards and countless culinary accolades to his name, he was the runner up for the Noble Peace Price for his charity work. He shared his photo journal of he and the Dalai Lama and explained that he continues to wait tables and run his restaurant, one-hundred percent for charity. In Peru, I met half a dozen people who want nothing more for their lives than to connect to a deeper purpose and meaning, and whose vulnerability and willingness to share their stories forever changed my life. The number of people I came into union with over the past year is far too lengthy to list but suffice it to say, had I not been doing less to become more, they would have zipped past my view without my noticing.
The union with special people wasn’t the only union I encountered. The greatest union came from the union within myself. Removing all that kept me from knowing who I am and bringing me to understanding the union I am in with God. A book that helped in this process was The Dark Night of the Soul by Richard May, M.D. A book fashioned after the original Dark Night of the Soul from St. John of the Cross, not the new age bastardization of the idea.
As I worked my way through 2023 doing less, I encountered more depth and dimension to life. I discovered more beauty and will now work to spread what I have been shown to as many people who are interested as possible. This means my Substack publications, podcasts and events will now be available to all of my subscribers, not just those who are paid supporters. I figured I better let you know before your annual renewals come up later this month. Those of you who support my work through a paid subscription make it possible for me to continue to publish my work and I hope you continue to find the value in doing so. But this year, all of my content will be made available to all of my readers. Another way of strengthening the union with all of you, who find my content important enough to give it a few minutes of your time each week. I don’t take this lightly. All that I ask in return is that you share my work with friends and family who might enjoy the journey.
The origin of the word union stems from ecclesiastical Latin unio(n-) ‘unity’ or Latin unus meaning ‘one.’ Being one with the world around us sounds like a refreshing place to be, doesn’t it? One with nature, recognizing the earth isn’t something at the disposal of human beings to rape and pillage for our own glutinous desires. One with those we are in relationship with, from spouses and partners to those we encounter in passing at the grocery store or in traffic. One with our work. One with our food, the source of all life. One with our purpose. One with God, however we see the great Creator of this mystery we call life. I don’t know about you, but I find the whole divide and conquer tactics too exhausting to maintain much longer. I’m moving towards union in every aspect of my life.
I got a nice start on the political front, spending the first day of the year at a small, intimate event with our future president, RFK Jr. A serendipitous meeting, where he happened to be spending time with his family in Colorado, a short distance from where I was spending time with mine. It is worth mentioning, I have never contributed to a political campaign in my life before now, because I firmly believe if we do not find union, our country will be forever and irreparably torn apart. Unity has proven to be impossible in a two party system which means we have to end it now. But even better than meeting RFK Jr. was being in the presence of people who want nothing more than to heal the divide within our country. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, old, young, it didn’t matter - everyone in the room shared one common goal - union.
With my food company, I took the opportunity of relocating to my home state as an opportunity to begin sourcing all of our animal products and most vegetables and fruits from small, ethical farmers and producers. If I want the food system in this country to change, I had better get busy doing my part. Unifying consumers with the animals that give them life and helping to bring awareness to just how inhumane our food sourcing is. Also starting the Brighter Life Foundation, through which we will continue to donate a meal for every meal we sell. We have always had the You Eat, They Eat program to help feed the food insecure, but now we have our own foundation to not only bring food, but also education and things like field trips to farms for our future generations.
The idea of unity feels right and good. It feels necessary in my own life and necessary in the world at large. And we cannot expect to see it if we aren’t willing to live it. The world sounds like a symphony out of tune. The strings are playing too softly and the horns, tubas and percussion are drowning us in their incessant clanging and chatter. Like the feminine within me, the softer touch of the world is being outdone by the masculine. The push at all costs, perpetual seeking, consumption with total disregard for preservation, have us out of harmony with one another and the universe in which we live. We need to harmonize.
I encourage you to walk along side me this year in finding deeper union and harmony within you and with the immediate world around you. Those of you who joined me last year in doing less to become more, enjoyed the fruits of your labor. Thank you for the heartfelt messages, gifts and notes you sent throughout the year. I am eternally grateful. It’s time to take what we learned and bring it forth into action.
In unity and harmony.