I live and write on Lingít Aaní, and gratefully acknowledge the past, present and future caretakers of this beautiful place, the Jilkaat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan.

“Kindness toward others and radical kindness to ourselves buy us a shot at a warm and generous heart, which is the greatest prize of all.”― Anne Lamott, Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy

I keep thinking, as I hear the news– where is the kindness? I mean, do powerful people– or letter-to-the editor writers– ever say to themselves, how would I feel if what I just said about LGBTQ+ people, or the un-homed, or historical trauma, or immigrants or the poor or schoolteachers or a politician was directed toward someone I love? —  Can’t we at least try to make everything we say about someone we don’t know the same as if we are sitting right next to them, and that they are a child that we do know– and what’s more, that we just adore and would never harm? Is that too much to ask?