Termites Teach Fire Resilience
A Venus Day Love List
Today our Venus day love list is less about getting things we enjoy, and more about showing up for what we love. TLDR: resources and links to help those impacted by the LA fires at the end of the message.
One time, when I was in the jungles of Peru, I tripped across what I thought was a small vine on the path. When I looked at it closely I realized my footstep had smooshed it into powder. “That’s a weird vine,” I thought.
Looking more closely I realized it wasn’t a vine at all, it was a subway system for termites (or maybe they were ants? not sure). These “termite tubes” threaded from tree to tree, protecting the termites from predators.
I felt bad for coming along like Godzilla and destroying a whole section of their carefully constructed architecture. But when I returned to the same spot an hour later, working together, they’d already repaired it. That is resilience.
Resilience is the capacity to return to good condition after encountering harm.
Those termites were able to repair so quickly because (where I was, at least) the whole jungle was in reasonably good condition. All the communities were strong.
But when the ecosystem we live in is stressed, our capacity for resilience diminishes.
Stressed ecosystems make it more difficult for every being within them, whether they be termite, jaguar, bobansana tree, or human, to return to good condition.
Obviously, I’m thinking about resilience right now because of the fires here in Los Angeles.
I feel frozen in grief, heartache, loneliness, and rage.
I’m calling upon my resilience practices to try and find my way through it.
Since I moved to Highland Park from West Adams about 6 years ago, one of my most reliable resilience practices has been visiting Eaton Canyon.
You’ll recognize the name Eaton Canyon because the Eaton fire is the one that destroyed Altadena.
I thought of Eaton Canyon as my altar, my sanctuary and temple. When I was feeling depleted, returning to Eaton canyon would restore me.
I’d visit the creek, and play with the frogs, and listen to teenagers goofing and families stomping by as they hiked the path beyond the sage brush.
I can’t get there now. As far as I know it’s still smoldering. Covered in fire fighters and helicopters and ash.
How do we regain resilience when the places that nourish us are destroyed?
I’m thinking about this especially in relationship to two populations in Altadena who have been horrifically impacted by the fires - artists, and the Black community.
Artists are essential to our ecosystem and the human capacity to restore resilience.
When we humans are brought to our knees, it’s often art that lifts our chin and helps us return to standing.
Music makes us feel less alone, books change our life, movies hold us as we snuggle with our friends, cunty clothing makes us feel a bit more able to face the day.
I know scores of artists who’ve lost everything in these fires. They lost their studios, they lost all their archives and artworks. They lost their libraries and notebooks.
Remember a while back when I mentioned that museum exhibition of contemporary Indigenous artists where I took a workshop on amaranth? That was at The Armory Center for the Arts - a small arts organization in Pasadena, where 7 members of their small staff lost their homes in the fires. Seven!! How can an arts organization function when their staff are reeling from losing everything?
How are artists and their advocates supposed to uplift their communities when they’re busy wrangling with their insurance company? If they even had insurance.
[Video of me dancing at the creek at Eaton Canyon, along the ridge you can see one of the homes that is probably now destroyed].
One artist many of us cherish, the (Black) writer Octavia Butler (whose prophetic book Parable of the Sower begins in fire circa 2025) lived and is now buried in Altadena.
Historically, in addition to their tremendous gifts and contributions as artists, one of the things that’s made the Black community on Turtle Island so resilient – despite the fact that the dominant culture has tried everything within its power to work them to death, punish, imprison, police, and destroy them – has been their capacity to create and nourish solidarity within their community.
The white supremacist overculture has sought out and destroyed Black communities. Through redlining, it has prevented them from building generational wealth to increase the resilience within their families.
One of the only places in Los Angeles where Black people could buy property, historically, was Altadena. There was a huge and thriving Black population there, now, where will they go?
If your house burns down, and you need to go live with family to rebuild your life, where do you go when your cousin’s, brother’s, and mother’s house also burned down?
How do your rebuild the wealth your family managed to accrue over generations when you have to pay the mortgage on the smoldering remains of the house your grandmother left you, while also paying rent on an apartment that has suddenly tripled in price because of the greed of corporate landlords?
[Video of Eaton Canyon above, if you look closely at the silhouette of the mountains, you can see the Edison Company power towers which likely started the fires].
This morning as I woke up, I placed my hand on my heart and asked myself how I was feeling (one of my resilience practices), and the answer came back: sad, trapped.
It’s difficult to go out because of the air quality, my throat is sore and my sinuses are swollen, my asthma is kicking up.
Knowing the evacuation zone was less than a mile from my house is horrifying. The fire missed me this time, but the devastation of climate change is raining toxic ashes on my home - and there’s no where to run.
Nowhere on earth can escape the devastation capitalism hath wrought.
Since there’s now nowhere to run, we have to plant our feet where we are and take care of each other.
Resilience is our ability to repair. Our ability to repair is dependent on the resilience of other beings in our communities and the land itself.
Those who utilize their capacity to help Los Angeles repair now will also make themselves stronger.
You, we, make ourselves strong by caring for one another. See the list of resources below and share your care if you can. The more you share your care, the bigger our collective capacity for resilience grows.
Solidarity always,
Amanda
*We have scholarships for those in financial need. I want these tools to be accessible to all who need them. To find out more email us at: guardian@oracleoflosangeles.com
Ways to help Los Angeles build community resilience after the fires:
ARTISTS: Help the artists of Los Angeles rebuild through the LA Arts Relief Fund. If you are an artist who’s been impacted by the fires, you can apply here for an emergency relief grant. This link provides a comprehensive list of many organizations to donate to, or receive aid from, to support artists impacted by fires in Altadena.
BLACK COMMUNITY: Here’s the most amazing, comprehensive list of mutual aid funds for Black Families impacted by the fires in Alta Dena. What’s especially beautiful about this list is that it tells you what percentage of these GoFundMe’s have been funded already, so you can share your resources with the people who are the most in need.
Note that this list also has links to help Latino families, people with disabilities businesses, and more. Plus it has resources for people who need them. Whoever put that list together deserves a metal.
LAND: If you’d like to volunteer to rehabilitate the natural habitat around Eaton canyon, you can sign up here for a project put together by We Explore Earth, a 501c3 dedicated to the land and advocating for BIPOC communities. (Here’s their IG - @WeExploreEarth which has lots of ways to help). Also, San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity is asking for volunteers to LITERALLY help people rebuild, think rebuilding homes, all skill levels welcome. If you’re short on money, but you’ve got time and live in the area, volunteering in person is a great way to help.
GENERAL MUTUAL AID LIST: This MALAN list has basically all the places that you can donate in LA and is up to date with what different organizations are asking for.
(Free) Workshop Opportunity: Emotions for Activism
Our beloved community member Gaayathri, a counsellor and facilitator based in Te Awakairangi, New Zealand is offering a very special online workshop to help activists (and aspiring activists) build the skills they need to maintain strong relationships.
In this workshop you will:
Define how emotions impact your ability to build relationships, coalitions and community
Identify the role compassion can play in movement building
Practice tools for difficult conversations
Explore skills to find your inner capacity — instead of avoiding feelings and acting out of impulse
Develop practical strategies for mitigating activist burnout
To sign up for this workshop, click the link below.