Beloved Community,
We cordially invite you to join us in a crucial
but sometimes overlooked form of activism:
COMING TOGETHER TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER THROUGH HARD TIMES
Right now, we are collectively living through horrendous global atrocities; our nervous systems are running on empty, leaving us exhausted and depleted, drained of the spark that gives us hope. We are divided on more lines than we can track, and this is all by design. The system isn’t broken, it’s functioning exactly as it was created to. To keep us all so busy just trying to meet our basic human needs, that we have nothing left to unite and fight back with.
As the genocide unfolding in Gaza right now weighs heavily upon us all, the grief continues to grow each day. This grief is compounded by so many concurrent horrors: the millions of civilians who have been displaced in Sudan do to civil war; the estimated 7 million people in the Congo who are living through extreme famine, exploitation and brutality due to the mining industry that makes our cell phone and electric car batteries; the dear Ukranians, who have suffered the loss of thousands of lives as they enter their second winter at war with Russia, without an end in site. There are so many armed conflicts unfolding right now, as you read these words…it’s hard to fathom the depth of the collective despair.
We have been pondering how we can hold our annual fundraising Gala in the midst of so much suffering. Watching the people of the world unite on behalf of the Palestinians has greatly ignited us. Part of the Firefly mission is to inspire and empower this community, and this event generates our winter operating budget to get plans underway for all of our efforts in 2024. But the Gala also serves another crucial function: bringing the community together. We are living through unprecedented times as we witness the long-term effects of colonialism and capitalism playing out. Now, more than ever, we need to be held in our grief; we need to help each other not be stuck in the overwhelm.
It is said that under our rage lies grief; that really, grief is love with nowhere to go. So to stay grounded in these trying times, we hope to create places for our love to go. In a settler colonial society, there is no shortage of places and people that need love. Right now, we all need love. Coming together to sing, dance, pray, grieve and just to bask in connection, can be the best medicine for our weary and broken hearts.
As the enormity of the global crisis unfolds, my heart is warmed and I am moved to tears by the perseverance of the wild human soul. Everywhere the horrors of oppression unfold, we witness the rise of the human spirit: people sharing their last food and water with those around them; taking in children whose entire families have been murdered and who are now orphans; people practicing mutual aid in so many forms I could write forever and never capture them all.
The one act that continues to touch me deeply is the many images and sounds of people singing their liberation songs and dancing through their despair. The relentless determination to survive against all odds, and to buoy the spirit through song and dance.
And so, in solidarity with all of the beings struggling through oppression in the world right now, who refuse to give in; who keep dancing and singing their grief into joy, we join you. We hold our gatherings in large part because we strongly believe in the healing power of community and the need for us to come together to support one another, fortifying each other so we can then go back out into the greater world and do the work that our souls came here to do.
We hold so much tender love and prayer as we cultivate each and every offering at this event. From the birthing portal you must pass through to enter The Underworld, to the community grieving space up in the Realm of the Fae, and every opportunity for song, movement, and connection in between, this fundraiser is an intentional opportunity to hold each and every being in a place of love; to support one another in the creation of the world we want to breathe life into.
We invite you to join us in the heart of Asheville, NC for an evening of grieving, strengthening, and release at our Mischief Moon Gala, December 7 at the Asheville Masonic Temple. Together, we’ll walk through the shadows into the light. Let us bring our hearts, minds and bodies together to support each other and stir up some transformative, motivational mischief in these troubling times.
Feature Photo Credit: Mike Belleme