The Art of Losing, for Mohamed

Albatross

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Wednesday September 20, 2017 · 11:42 AM PDT

2017/09/20 · 11:42

23992846_1505909300.6966.jpg — Support an Immigrant Family in Need

One Art

by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

So many things have been lost since January, since November, since Trump entered the primaries. I knew it would be catastrophic; it has been worse that I imagined. So many things have been lost.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Those of us who read and watch and listen and argue are trying to sustain our outrage, our righteous indignation. But something has been lost every day: some dignity, some decorum, some civilization, some goodness.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

We’ve lost bigger and more: we’ve lost justice, we’ve lost respect, we’ve lost wisdom and learning. The disaster is visible across the next ridge, letting us feel it’s not quite here yet; as if the loss is manageable.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Tragedy has become old-hat; the water we are submerged in. The small indignities, so close; the deep-seated injustices, so far and insurmountable.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

A few cities and islands under water, under rubble. People lost to hatred, lost to violence, lost to a carelessly indifferent bureaucracy. Rule of law, lost to fear and submission. Principles, lost to cynicism and expediency.

And swimming in the mess of loss, my awareness, my intention and attention, my compassion. Last night, the woman who asked for me softly and clearly had to repeat herself several times for me to look up from my phone. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any cash.” Who asked for my leftovers, “I’m sorry—it’s takeout for my family’s meal,” whose voice still didn’t really enter into my mind and my heart. Only after I drove away, did I realize what I had lost: “For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat.” Lost: one open heart, one opportunity to comfort, one love—the only important one of the moment. Disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident

the art of losing’s not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

In the face of so much loss, I am finding a small, tangible way to help today. It won’t feed the hungry person I didn’t feed. But it is one small thing, for one family, struggling in the face of injustice. If you are looking for one small, tangible way to help today, please consider helping Mohamed and his family, who have done every single thing they were supposed to do as American immigrants and who had their rights and what is right violated. (This gofundme is administered by a long-time family friend who is a friend of Mohamed’s family, an educator, and an advocate).

Protect Immigrant Rights: GoFundMe

Mohamed is a friend, father, and husband who has been a hardworking member of southwest Ohio since emigrating to the U.S. with asylum status from West Africa almost a decade ago.
Despite having a green card (U.S. permanent resident status), he was abducted from his home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials almost three months ago without an immediate charge and imprisoned in a local jail that doubles as an ICE detention facility. Once charged and brought before the court, charges were dismissed, but the prosecutor immediately appealed the ruling and requested that he continue to be detained until the appeals process runs its course as their investigation is ongoing. The prosecutor apparently hopes to get Mohamed’s green card voided along with the rest of his family and have them deported.
The judge granted Mohamed release on a $10,000 bail since he has only ever been in good standing with the law. As the primary earner for his family, who has children in school (both k-12 and higher education), that amount is well beyond what is possible at this time, especially since he has lost three months of wages and social capital with those who depend on his work.
There are even more losses and hardships in sight because if his family is unable to raise $10,000 before October 3rd, Mohamed will remain in ICE captivity for the duration of the appeals process and the entire family will struggle to make ends meet.
Please consider sharing this with anyone you know who is interested in making a difference in the lives of their neighbors and the most vulnerable among us. It will make a big difference for him and his family. The targeting and harassment of our friends and neighbors must stop. Thank you for lending your support in whatever way you can!

WHEE: Yoga Edition

Albatross

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Sunday September 13, 2009 · 4:26 PM PDT

2009/09/13 · 16:26

I am a recent convert to the challenges and joys of yoga. I attended my first ever yoga class in June and have since been attending yoga 2-3 times a week. My yoga instructor and her classes are probably pretty different than most: the music is loud and fast paced (though the movements generally aren't), the temperature is kept high--between 90 and 95 degrees, there is no chanting and she doesn't use the conventional order of movements or flows.

Yoga classes certainly aren't for everyone--and not every yoga class or instructor would work for every fan of yoga. But like every new convert, I'm annoyingly excited about what is new and joyful to me, so I thought I'd share some of the benefits tonight.

Stretch down past the hump to read more...

WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.

Albatross

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Thursday September 03, 2009 · 7:06 PM PDT

2009/09/03 · 19:06

So I've been absent from the WHEE diaries most of this week (wrote an abysmal Friday night diary last week that I posted and then promptly fell asleep for). I survived Open House for parents tonight with a barely hanging in there voice and now I'm home--too tired to sleep yet--with a glass of wine on a lovely evening. Ready for WHEE and it doesn't look like anyone is lined up to write one. So join me to chat for a bit if you're around.

WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.

Albatross

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Friday August 28, 2009 · 4:54 PM PDT

2009/08/28 · 16:54

Happy Friday evening! I have just survived my first week back at school, so this will be an open thread diary with a few tidbits.

WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.

Albatross

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Tuesday August 18, 2009 · 5:39 AM PDT

2009/08/18 · 05:39

My cousin used to be married to a man who suffered from bipolar disorder but did not keep up with his treatment. One of the stories she told me about him was that he decided, while he was unemployed, that he wanted to take up surfing. He bought a high-end surfboard, got the car fitted with a rack, and indulged in all of the other accessories that accomplished surfers buy. Despite the fact that they lived in Northern Alabama.

I have to admit that this story struck a bit of a chord with me because I have a tendency to approach big changes in my life, particularly health and fitness, with this attitude: if I buy it, it will happen.

Join me over the flip to talk about the accouterments of success in health, fitness, and weight loss.

WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.

Albatross

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Thursday August 06, 2009 · 4:15 PM PDT

2009/08/06 · 16:15

Thinking about diet or food or what I eat is such a double-edged sword for me; on one hand, I love food, and on the other, I so resent it and have often felt ashamed of my eating habits.

I'm reading a book called Sing Them Home, in which one of the main characters is a successful art history professor who is obsessed with food--she thinks about it constantly, hides food, and makes elaborate plans about ways to eat the most atrocious foods without other people finding out or seeing. There's a scene in which she waits until everyone in the house goes to sleep, sneaks downstairs to get the ice cream, finishes the carton, then rinses it out, folds it up, and hides it in the bottom of her trash can so no one notices. I've been there.

My efforts to think about what I eat as sustenance, in the most whole and healing sense of the word, on the flip side.

Albatross

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Monday July 27, 2009 · 5:07 AM PDT

2009/07/27 · 05:07

So, President Obama and Congress have me thinking about inertia.
source

WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.

Join me on the flip side...unless you're stuck.

Albatross

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Thursday July 24, 2008 · 9:54 AM PDT

2008/07/24 · 09:54

While Obama visits Berlin today, with up up to a million people anticipated , John McCain is making a stop in a German Village himself.

Albatross

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Wednesday February 27, 2008 · 1:34 PM PST

2008/02/27 · 13:34

Keeping America's Promise in Columbus! That's what Barack Obama was doing this morning.

(Please accept my apologies for photo quality throughout the diary. A really, really tall guy was standing in front of me, so I just had to hold up and click. If you are particularly sensitive to motion sickness, you may want to take some Dramamine before you follow me over the fold).

Albatross

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Monday February 04, 2008 · 5:30 PM PST

2008/02/04 · 17:30

My stomach rumbles, for we had no morning meal. But it isn't really a meal I want, though I would not turn one down.

More than anything else, I want to learn to read.

Every year, regardless of the grade I'm teaching, I read this book, by Marie Bradby and illustrated by Chris Soentpiet, based on the life of Booker T. Washington, to my class. It's why I'm there. It's why they're there. The most important thing that I can teach them is to crave more knowledge, more understanding.

Albatross

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Friday June 01, 2007 · 7:42 AM PDT

2007/06/01 · 07:42

I've just started reading The Audacity of Hope, and it's challenging me and affirming my support for Obama. His discussion of the Constitution is just one of the sections I've found compelling:

What the framework of our Constitution can do is organize the way by which we argue about our future. All of its elaborate machinery--its separation of powers and checks and balances and federalist principles and Bill of Rights--are designed to force us into a conversation, a "deliberative democracy" in which all citizens are required to engage in a process of testing their ideas against an external reality, persuading others of their point of view, and building shifting alliances of consent. Because power in our government is so diffuse, the process of making law in America compels us to entertain the possibility that we are not always right and to sometimes change our minds; it challenges us to examine our mostives and our interests constantly, and suggests that both our individual and collective judgements are at once legitimate and highly fallible.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the book and highly recommend it everyone.
It's been a busy week! Follow me below the jump for the news roundup.

Albatross

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Wednesday October 18, 2006 · 7:00 PM PDT

2006/10/18 · 19:00

Mike DeWine is running a lying ad and now I've got that old Eagles song running through my mind...

Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?
she's so far gone she feels just like a fool
My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things
You set it up so well, so carefully
Ain't it funny how your new life didn't change things
You're still the same old ~~girl~~ fool you used to be
You can't hide your lyin eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you'd realize
There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes

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The Art of Losing, for Mohamed

WHEE: Yoga Edition

WHEE: Last Minute Open Thread

WHEE Open Thread: Headlines & Playlists

WHEE: Gizmos, Gadgets, and Gewgaws

WHEE: Sustenance

WHEE: Inertia

McCain in German Village

OH--IO, O-BAMA

More Than Anything Else

This Week for Obama: A Weekly Diary

DeWine's Lying Ad