Thursday Murmurings

Imene Khalif, stop worrying and getting closure

Happy Thursday, ya beauties!

Kicking it off this week with Algeria’s first ever women’s OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST in boxing, Imene Khalif. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve seen that a bunch o’ weirdos tried to get her banned by challenging her gender and accusing her of being trans. Unsurprisingly, the above-mentioned weirdos included JK Rowling and Elon Musk - who evidently have nothing better to do with their time than constantly moan about the existence of trans people.

I could write a frikkin’ thesis on this trend of challenging (particularly black, female) athletes about their gender and the subsequent humiliation they’re forced to go through in terms of testing to prove they are who and what they say they are, just to be able to live out their dream. But in short; it’s bollocks. Some biologically born women don’t look super feminine. It is what it is. It doesn’t make them any less a woman.

Khalif was under so much scrutiny and was fielding a horrendous amount of online harassment and she STILL managed to win Gold. And did I mention she’s only 25?!

So, kudos to her on the win. She also launched a legal complaint about the online harassment she had to deal with, in which she names Rowling and Musk. Beautiful! I hope she wins that case - a nice compliment to her Gold medal.

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Things that caught my eye this week

This story about empathy as a punishment for a crime is an interesting read. Remember when we were coming out of the thick of the pandemic and all those lock downs, people lost their damn minds and forgot how to behave? We heard how crime spiked, people were going insane on planes, and generally antisocial behaviour was peaking. This story tracks a woman who went viral for losing her shit and throwing a burrito bowl at a Chipotle employee because it didn’t look the way she wanted (yeah, you read that right). Rather than sentence her to jail, the judge in the case decided to sentence her to working in a fast food restaurant so she can put herself in that employees shoes who she assaulted and gain some empathy. Reading the story, it doesn’t sound like the aggressor is too sorry for her actions at all, but I think the idea of empathy as a punishment is an interesting concept and I wonder if we’ll see more of it.

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Food for thought

I heard someone say recently that worrying is praying for chaos. It’s wasted energy. If you think of all the things you’ve worried about in your life, most of them didn’t come to pass. And if they did, clearly you survived it. I get it. Sitting in the unknown is crazy uncomfortable, but worrying about a situation won’t guide it one way or another, it just ensures you’re not allowing yourself to experience what this moment is meant to be for you. Control what you can and release your attachment to the rest. You’ll be OK. You always are.

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Your should upgrade to the paid version of The Murmuration because…

In Monday’s letter, I’m talking about confronting your past troubles through a different lens. I recently went back to Nova Scotia for a visit. That is a place that caused me much pain and trauma for three years and escaping it had been a top priority for a long time. It’s tied up in such difficult emotions for me, I was worried about going back, but that four day trip wound up teaching me a whole bunch of things and bringing me much needed closure. With time, distance and a different lens, we can confront our past troubles and find the courage to move on.

Upgrade your subscription and join me on Monday for a healing chat.

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Your Weekly Biggie Smalls (P)update

This week, Biggie wants to remind you to get your workout in. It’s essential self care and your body will thank you. Oh and he says if you haven’t tried out STUDIO BANGS yet, you definitely should ;-)

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Until next week; smile at strangers, spread good vibes, be nice to people.