The Age of Aquarius

Dear Reader,

Astrologers say we are in the age of Aquarius, and this arrangement of planetary bodies has not happened since the American Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment. We are in a time when established hierarchies can topple, and in the wake of their destruction, possibilities foment. How exciting. But I could not bear listening to these hopeful words, because The American Revolution was not a revolution for the Native Americans who endured genocide and lost their land. The Age of Enlightenment was really only one for the West, playing catch up to philosophical and scientific advancements that had already been established in various parts of Asia.

We live in a time when we are coerced to surrender our power to survive. We agree to be surveilled, assessed, governed. The more we assent, the more comfortable life will be. It is uncomfortable, even costly, to dissent. But what would happen if we tried? I don’t just mean choosing yourself in the face of the machine, but to choose yourself, and also each other. To allow yourself to experience discomfort and even pay the cost for the sake of another. Those who have tried know that we want to live in a world where we can stay in that feeling forever.

A lot of my stories in We Saw Mountains are about possibilities of rebellion and self-ownership in the everyday. In the marketing, you may notice that the words ‘hope’ and ‘utopia’ are absent. These were deliberate choices, as these words feel particularly loaded in the political environment we inhabit now. Hope and utopia for who?

When I attended a digital rights conference last year, I visited a booth by Palestinian women from Gaza. Amongst the things they were selling to raise funds were necklaces made from tear gas canisters. The message, imperfections and all, could make me cry.

When the world burns, we must not allow the cruel to build from the ashes; the cruel whose hope demands the destruction of others. 
 
Hope for who? For our shared world, our shared, glittering, beautiful world that has suffered so much and still bears life.
 
Love,
Diana

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