Our ancestors left us this gorgeous tradition, with so many trapdoors and water slides. They etched this tradition into their bones, which we buried and promised to not leave in the land of exile. They left us this incredible cast iron pan of tradition, seasoned with continents worth of grandmothers telling you to eyeball it, you’ll know what to add next. 

And we broke it.

The thread never does stop coming, nor the knots, but we are not completely helpless in the face of them. May 5786 be a year that we step away from the loom and its unending tangles to see the beauty of the world outside the window. May our attention not be claimed only by crisis. May our creativity and persistence allow us to undo the knots in our own lives and the lives of our kin and neighbors. May we be overwhelmed by awe that interrupts our grief of the aching world to fall in love, again and again, with it.

“Action begins with an actor. That's us. Freeing ourselves to act in the world requires letting go of what prevents it. Letting go of chains that keep us disconnected from a world that has moved on. Rejecting even the shackles we we agreed to wear. Tonight is our commitment – yes, I just can't get away from that language – to catch up.”