On the eve of elections in the United States, I share three orientations to voting: voting as harm reduction, public outcry, and collective responsibility. These are three ways I think about voting as everyday action aligned with striving toward justice. Three ways to vote even when it hurts, even when the heart aches. Why My Heart Hurts on Election Day and Why Voting Still Matters As I wrote back in 2018, my heart hurts on election day. And it does today, leading up to ... Read more ...
grief
Continuing to Respond to the Supreme Court’s Decision Overturning Roe
Dear Beloved Reader, I began this post during Friday’s writing group, where I was when the Supreme Court released the Dobbs decision—overturning Roe v. Wade, restricting legal abortion access, and undercutting reproductive justice. I felt held in deep companionship through the news. And I remain incredibly grateful for activist-educator-writer-friend-colleagues who show up in the world with commitment and care. Now, more than ever, I feel the need for community—for ... Read more ...
Reframing Burnout and Recognizing the Collective Experience
Today, I have a new article published in Inside Higher Ed: “Honoring Ourselves and Each Other Through Burnout.” Here’s the opening: In the past few months, nearly all my conversations have focused on burnout. One friend is running on fumes, another wonders how to keep teaching when her body says no and still another rattles off a near-endless list of what’s not getting done. Such stories are nearly endless, too. The recent Inside Higher Ed opinion piece “Academe, Hear ... Read more ...
New Year Reflections: Hanging by a Thread Is Better Than No Thread at All
In these weeks leading up to the new year—during the holidays and covid surge—I’ve found myself saying, “I’m hanging by a thread.” And friends have reminded me that one thread is better than no threads at all. It’s true. I’ve witnessed spiders suspended in air by a single thread. I’ve seen them descend to the ground gracefully with that same thread and use it as a first step to rebuilding webs. (Spiders teach me a lot!) As we welcome the new year, I’m reminding myself ... Read more ...
Grief and Gratitude: Reflections on a 3-Year Anniversary
This Saturday (December 13th) was my 3-year anniversary as a Patreon creator, and this week I'm reflecting on how much has happened and changed over these three years. In the midst of this internal review, I am grieving bell hooks, who I know will continue to guide so many of our lives, though I'm experiencing her loss as magnifying the many losses of this year and the last. I recognize again—through emails and text messages and phone calls and blog posts (like this one ... Read more ...
The Holidays Are Hard: Naming What’s Hard and Offering Support
The holidays are always hard for me, as I know they are for many of us. There are so many expectations, longings, memories, disappointments, and things to grieve. At the same time when the days are shorter and seasonal depression kicks in, there are additional demands on our time and emotional capacity. There are broken boundaries and boundary violations. Family conflicts and forced happiness. Over-consumption, over-indulgence, and over-exhaustion. Loneliness, ... Read more ...
Reflection, Retreat, and Recommitment: Learning from the Winter Woods
In a year that’s cracked me open (like this cracked tree trunk), the week of the winter solstice feels full of possibility: renewing of light, changing of seasons, warming of spirits. I’ve found that sense of possibility most profound in the winter woods, where the natural world has so much to teach—and I have so much to learn—again and again and again. Too often, I focus on disliking winter and the cold, dark, and snow that go along with it. But this year, in the midst ... Read more ...
Career Discernment for Academics: An Interview with Self-Compassionate Professor
I’m grateful to Danielle De La Mare of the Self-Compassionate Professor for inviting me to do an interview that’s become “Episode 19: Career Discernment with Dr. Beth Godbee.” This interview relates both my career discernment story and how I understand career discernment as a lifelong, ongoing process of finding and following the “strong yes.” Here’s what Danielle says about the interview: “Former professor, Dr. Beth Godbee, joins me for the first episode of Season 2! ... Read more ...
Summer 2020 Is Calling for Change, and Processing Groups Can Support Change-Making Reflection and Re-Commitment
Among the many needs of this time, holding spaces—that is, spaces for processing, reflection, somatic awareness, and grounded re-commitment—feel particularly important. With this need in mind, I’m continuing to hold lunchtime processing groups: “Processing the Pandemic with Heart-Head-Hands.” Throughout the spring, these groups felt supportive for me—like I’d learn or remember or release something new with each session. So, this summer, I'm continuing to facilitate ... Read more ...
Unraveling Whiteness: A Call for More Courage
I’m thinking about whiteness—the structure, ideology, and everyday enactments—as I try to process (yet again) how white people weaponize whiteness. My heart is hurting with rage and grief from recent events, explained in these articles from The Root: “‘There’s an African-American Man Threatening My Life’: Karen Calls Police on Black Man for Asking Her to Leash Her Dog” “Outrage in Minneapolis after Black Man Dies in Custody Following Brutal Police Arrest: ‘I Cannot ... Read more ...
![I’ve so appreciated @mia.mingus ‘s workshops. Highly recommend!
#Repost @mia.mingus with @use.repost
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Will be giving an Introduction to TJ on Jan 19th. It is open to the public. Please share with your folks asap, as we expect this to fill up. This is a great opportunity to attend with folks from your pod and folks in your everyday life so that you can build more capacity and support for TJ in your communities and intimate networks. 🌿
LINK IN BIO to the registration page with more info. Pay-what-you-can-tickets. No one turned away for lack of funds.
[Image description: A graphic in beige and white with purple circular swirls featuring a framed photo of Mia Mingus, a smiling Korean woman with long dark hair in black glasses and a grey top. Words in purple read Transformative Justice 101 Facilitated by Mia Mingus of SOIL. Thursday, January 19, 2023 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. EST Zoom webinar Register: bit.ly/TJ_101 ASL + LIVE captions provided. A purple sparkler is in the lower right hand corner.]
#TransformativeJustice](https://heart-head-hands.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
