Connecting the dots: escape, engage, empower

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so many dots in the world today
drawn by powerful men

hard to make sense of them
careening through our world

how to connect them…
dodge the worst of them…
live with the picture they draw…

a constant challenge

some days
many days
most days
I cannot
do not

the big picture out of focus
dots colliding
horrific results
shootings bombings killings
starvation misery hatred

grim

I skip across the headlines
retreat
hold firm my own dots
aware appalled awake

ready

holding steady 
in my own corner
writing 
connecting 
loving

looking for a better tomorrow

...

Recently, two films gave me reprieve from the day’s headlines. 

The first, Downton Abbey: The grand finale. Grand it is — everyone’s story nicely tied up after a couple of hours spent in the company of those well loved characters and their beautiful settings with immense houses, gorgeous clothes, and always-green lawns. A lovely escape. 

The second, a documentary about Lilith Fair, the brainchild of Canada’s own Sarah McLachlan — music concerts with an all-female lineup: a radical concept in the music world at the time. But Sarah pulled it off for three years: 1997, 1998 and 1999. In fact, Lilith Fair was huge — women’s voices on outdoor stages across North America, playing to tens of thousands of women, men and children. So many wanted what Lilith Fair was — women’s voices, community, commitment to a different way of being in this world. A transforming experience. 

The vision was brought to life because Sarah McLachlan, one lone woman, said, Enough. Said, I believe people will come to a concert with more than one woman on the bill. And they did. By the thousands. 

an idea
a vision
one dot
putting herself out there
attracting others
working together
drew a picture 
bigger than they, 
individually, 
could have achieved

Downton Abbey lasted for six seasons and three movies, giving us characters and storylines that hooked us, transported us. 

Lilith Fair empowered us. The festivals lasted for three years, made glorious live music, produced albums, donated millions to charity, made headlines along the way for doing something the music industry dudes said couldn’t be done. 

Downton Abbey has run its course; The Grand Finale makes that clear. But this world of ours needs a whole lot more Lilith Fair. 

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Watch the Lilith Fair documentary on CBC Gem in Canada. In the United States, it is being streamed on Hulu (which is owned by Disney; these days, that's a problem when you connect the dots).


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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.


Photo by Katie McNabb on Unsplash

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