God of many names,

We don’t know how to feel less tired.

We don’t know how to vanquish our own fears.

We don’t know how to stop being angry at stupid people on Twitter. (personal note: that might just be me)

We don’t know how to live through a global pandemic and anti-black violence and wildfires and hurricanes and the fact that Chadwick Boseman just died. (Personal note: please keep anyone who might say some kind of “God needed another angel in heaven” nonsense far from me for their own safety, Lord)

We don’t know how to sustain the effort it takes to not completely freak out, and the effort it takes to keep from freaking out is one of the things that is making us so tired. 

So we need some reminders right now, Lord. 

Remind us that for every tragedy that’s “newsworthy” there are a million kindnesses, and countless acts of love that go unreported. 

(Personal note: remind me that I can take Twitter off my phone. Like, always an option)

But more than anything, remind us of our own souls. Remind us that there is an essential, holy, un-hurtable part of ourselves that never tires, that does not know fear, that is un-affected by other people, that cannot be irritated, that has nothing to achieve. 

If taking a few deep breaths reminds us of our truest center, then nudge us to breathe (but personal note; please, Lord, not in the voice of a 24 year old white girl yoga teacher. You know I can’t handle that). If laughing our asses off reminds us of what is most true, then nudge our friends to send funny texts. If eating a damn vegetable now and then reminds us that our bodies need us, then give us the will to make a salad. 

Amen.

Here is the more comprehensive gallery on my fotozine Lensman.

First documented in the late-1960s and becoming widespread by the mid-1990s, Trader Joe’s (T.J.s) Socialism is best known for a strong emotional association with it’s population and a fairly egalitarian-seeming social structure that masks an opaque executive and decision-making central body.

Competition is ruthlessly suppressed through the domination of state manufactured goods with a small percentage of additional products from outside sources. By and large, any independent identity is suppressed in producers allowing the State to monopolize any positive associations with the population and making those associations resistant to transfer elsewhere.

Due to the efficiency and creativity of the central body, the State enjoys a high degree of approval and loyalty from the population.

It is difficult to say whether T.J.s Socialism could flourish as well without more traditional market-based economies to trade with and ease potential demand shortfalls when central manufacturing fails to satisfy population expectations.