Hullo Abundant Hearts!
First, I just wanted to say that I'm thinking of all my friends currently struggling with the cold, snow, and lack of power down in Texas and Oklahoma. We're thinking of you and hoping this passes quickly!
Please send some love, safety, and warmth their way if you can. We did a short community meditation on my Tuesday Instagram Live. Should you wish to add your own energy, feel free to check it out!
Ironically, my own heat failed over the weekend as Toronto temperatures plummeted. The heat was on, but not pumping out properly, so I was inside shivering at 13 C (55 F) for two days. Thank goodness it was just a matter of a repair person cleaning the filter in the ancient 1920's furnace and it's fine now.
On top of that, Bachelor Nation has been completely unraveling this week too, so I've been glued to my phone.
One of the contestants who is currently top 4, Rachael Kirkconnell has had a number of past racist pictures and Instagram "likes" come to light.
Long-time Bachelor host Chris Harrison went on "Extra" to do an interview with Rachel Lindsey - the first Black Bachelorette who is currently working for Extra - and basically went on a 13 minute rant defending Kirkconnell whilst managing to talk down to and OVER Ms. Lindsey.
If you haven't seen it, here's a link to the unedited footage:
https://youtu.be/9hmY1gSAuRk
Chris Harrison has since "taken a step back to learn" after one disastrous non-apology, and a better second apology which he clearly didn't write by himself, if at all.
Some of you know that I'm a huge fan of reality TV, and that I've been watching "The Bachelor" franchise on and off since 2003 when Aaron Buerge was the lead in Season 2.
How big of a fan am I? I didn't need to look up how to spell "Buerge" 😂
So I'm setting a boundary right now. I don't want any nasty comments about the franchise from ANYONE.
I know. I am fully aware of the racism, misogyny, sizeism, ableism, and homophobia of this show. But it's an allegory for folks' attitudes in real life North America.
Historically, the show has been overwhelmingly white. That only started to truly change when Rachel Lindsey became the Bachelorette *in 2017* and even then, they reverted back to having less diversity until 2020 with Clare Crawley/Tayshia Adams' season, and now Matt James, the first Black Bachelor.
This show parallels our own racism and misogyny. It parallels society in North America *finally* starting to reckon with those things with the "Me Too" movement, Black Lives Matter, and the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others.
It also parallels our awakening and collective action. Bloggers and fans have been speaking out:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CLIVK_UD0CD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
As ever, Bachelor alums Rachel Lindsey and Taylor Nolan from the franchise were speaking out:
In an unprecedented move, the BIPOC women from Matt James' season put out a collective statement condemning Chris Harrison's actions and lending support to Rachel Lindsey. Most of Clare/Tayshia's men soon followed.
Its' now snowballed to where most white major figures in the franchise have come out and said something, whether sincere or not.
Notably absent? ABC and NZK Productions - the network that airs the show, and the production company, respectively. They're still silent.
To me, this mirrors real life. The collective is finally waking up, yet governments/systems are in many cases trying to avoid changing.
Former President Trump incited racism and tried to avoid dealing with the largest public health crisis of the 21st century so far, partly to maintain the status quo that kept him in power.
Ted Cruz goes on vacation while his constituents die, and HIS OWN DOG sat in their home without heat when they left for sunny Mexico (since restored)
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2021/02/ted-cruz-flees-texas-for-cancun-ditches-family-poodle.html?__twitter_impression=true
Here in Ontario, our Premier Doug Ford is currently fighting mandated paid sick days, which primarily affects essential workers; many of whom make minimum wage, and are often people of colour. In the middle of a fucking global pandemic, when we're being told to stay home.
https://nowtoronto.com/news/small-business-owners-call-on-ontario-to-legislate-paid-sick-leave?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=nowtoronto&utm_campaign=hootsuite
These events may seem unrelated, but they really got me thinking. What is "safety"? What do I need to feel safe? What does the collective need to feel safe?
Literally speaking, we need food, clean drinking water, heat in winter, a roof over our heads, and access to medical care when we're sick in order to feel safe, but what about our emotional and spiritual safety? We can't possibly explore those higher levels of safety unless and UNTIL our basic daily living needs are met.
We just finished Aquarius season where we can focus on the collective good. As we move in to Pisces season, I would encourage you to use your big, beautiful, abundant hearts to help others where you can right now - whether you're able to donate to organizations helping out in Texas or Oklahoma (see above), spreading awareness and accurate information about issues like misogyny and homophobia, or unpacking your own racism to become *anti-racist* by educating yourself and your loved ones.
Reading "So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo and "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi are good places to start.
You can also continue to donate to my birthday fundraiser for Rainbow Railroad.
https://www.rainbowrailroad.org/donate
If you want to know more about them, I wrote a blog post about it!
As ever, you can book a reading with me here:
Don't forget to tune in Monday at 4pm EST/1pm PST on Instagram Live to "Mondays With Michelle" for some free live readings!
And on this week's "Heart to Heart Conversations", I'll be interviewing the Sassy Southern Tarot reader herself, Terianne Tarot!
TeriAnne is an intuitive Tarot reader and claircognizant empath, seeking to help others realize and achieve what their heart truly needs (coffee, laughter, singing & dancing *required*).
She doesn't know this, but Terianne was my inspiration to start Heart to Heart Conversations, so I'm SUPER excited for this one!
Have the most wonderful weekend!
Love,
Michelle AKA Abundant Heart Tarot
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