I've had a hard time starting this one. With the angst and uncertainty of the election I found myself needing to prepare two very different letters for you today, depending on the outcome. And while today brings more hope than anyone may have been feeling on Tuesday, I'm not pushing bubbles quite yet.

Something about my participation in this unknown outcome reminds me of a series of books I was wild about in my youth. The Choose Your Own Adventure books left an indelible mark, as fantastical, absurd and arbitrary as they were. The obvious and persistent themes of mortality. The simple notion of having a choice in my narrative arc, in my own (final) outcome. Perhaps intrigued by failure, these books gripped and rattled me. I can still recall one particular ending, like a terrible dream, some 30 plus years later. A miscalculation, a regrettable decision. There is a loud noise or a sudden flash of light, when I needed to go unnoticed. I am suddenly surrounded by the wolves. The simple and hopeless final line haunted me for years: They begin to close in. The rest of that page is startling bare. It is the END. My end.

As I read more adventures during those years, the failures were less shocking, but more internalized. A disappointment in my decisions, in myself. A naiveté of my autonomy. If only I chose this or that, perhaps things would have turned out better. I'll confess to you that I'd often cheat, keeping several twisted little fingers tucked in to various pages - an invisible thread to find my way back from ultimate doom - with one foot and my still beating heart tethered to trail markers and past potential at each forked path.

As an adult, I know that narratives are not singular. And perhaps that is something positive I took from those books, ultimately. The other threads and endings are not alternate, but simultaneous - a better outcome is there, sometimes playing out unnoticed or simply waiting to be discovered. Sometimes just on the other side of the current page. Let's breathe deeply and hold some hope in our hearts this morning. Let's hope for the best. But whatever happens with the election, this adventure does not end today… nor in the coming weeks. We still have much work to do. We still have decisions to make, wolves to fight off. We will keep fighting. And most importantly, let us keep fighting for those who have little choice in their outcomes. Forget the ending, let’s focus on how we can begin. Let’s change the narrative. Let us write a new page, together.

In solidarity,

Daniel


P.S.
OAKLAND YARD turns 4 next week... we'll be sending out news in the next few days about an outdoor socially distant celebration on the afternoon of Sunday, November 14th. Stay tuned!