Laura Galli's painting above, from 13th Age 2E, illustrates the icon connection example when a half-orc with a connection to a High Druid averts bloodshed at a harvest festival invaded by (evil) elves by reaching back into the decades and centuries when humans and dwarves and elves lived together in the valley peacefully. The spirits of the ancestors come dancing out together in the swirling leaves, and for the rest of the festival day elves and the valley folk dance in peace.
It's nice when it works out!
Towards the end of his life my father's favorite saying was ole tuubli--Estonian for 'fare forward bravely.'
When I need reminders to fare forward bravely, and to keep track of the people doing wonderful things, a couple of my favorite resources this year have been the political and social commentary of Heather Cox Richardson and the social grab-bag of Derek Thompson's Plain English podcast.
You can find Heather Cox Richardson here on Substack. Her unpaid subscription is excellent. I don't know what her paid subscription is like yet, but I'll find out now that I've subscribed. I owe her sanity points, and if you're looking for a brilliant voice with a grasp of history and progressive possibilities, you might find some too.
I'm not always a podcast listener, but even when I'm reading partial transcripts, I also get a lot out of Plain English. It's useful about election polling and results at the moment, and a lot of the time it's touching on politics. Other episodes are on science, history, sports, and other human activities, as you'd expect from a podcast that's part of the Ringer network.
Speaking of networks, the Gamers4Harris website has a list of a whole bunch of something like 1111+ good people it is an honor to work alongside. It has resources for donations and suggestions for last minute volunteering that could turn into ongoing efforts.
Ole tuubli!
