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Featured Book for November 2023

Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day

by Kaitlin B. Curtice

“Readers will find abundant wisdom in this accessible guide.”–Publishers Weekly

In an era in which “resistance” has become tokenized, popular Indigenous author Kaitlin Curtice reclaims it as a basic human calling. Resistance is for every human who longs to see their neighbors’ holistic flourishing. We each have a role to play in the world right where we are, and our everyday acts of resistance hold us all together.

Curtice shows that we can learn to practice embodied ways of belonging and connection to ourselves and one another through everyday practices, such as getting more in touch with our bodies, resting, and remembering our ancestors. She explores four “realms of resistance”–the personal, the communal, the ancestral, and the integral–and shows how these realms overlap and why all are needed for our liberation. Readers will be empowered to seek wholeness in whatever spheres of influence they inhabit.

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Community Questions

Community Questions for Reflection from Claudia Love Mair

Week 1

  1. Living Resistance is organized by four “realms of resistance,” personal, communal, ancestral, integral. Take a few moments to examine these realms. p.15. What shimmers for you in the descriptions?
  2. On page 17 Kaitlin writes, “in an era in which 'activism' and 'resistance' are tokenized hot topics I want to restore these ideas as a basic human calling.” What comes up for you when you read the words “activism” and “resistance"?
  3. How do you define resistance?

Week 2

  1. On page 29 Kaitlin writes about how the process of deconstruction as an opportunity to critique what story means to a person. How do your personal stories relate to your deconstruction and/or decolonization processes?
  2. Sydney Stevenson is quoted in the book as saying, “Using Art as a nonviolent form of protest can carry immense meaning and strength, connecting people through their resistance.” Describe an instance in which you've experienced art used in this way.
  3. On page 48 Kaitlin tells us that the embodiment journey is life long. What are some ways that you are intentional about connecting more deeply to your body?

Week 3

  1. “Self-love is one of the most important forms of resistance because it is what we begin everything from.” Name a way in which self-love as resistance plays out in your life?
  2. Kaitlin includes a discussion of boundaries in the chapter on self-love. How do boundaries help you welcome and claim love for yourself?
  3. “When we refuse to look away from one another and instead choose to sit with one another’s stories and proclaim they matter, we are practicing solidarity. I practice solidarity with you when I remember we belong to each other.” p.85. Name a way that you choose belonging and kinship when the world is constantly reinforcing the message that we are on our own?

Week 4

  1. Chapter 7 is all about ethical practices. What are some ways you can you ensure that you appreciate, rather than appropriate when you are drawn to traditions and practices of a culture that isn’t your own?
  2. How does acknowledging the gifts and limitations of your ancestors help to bring healing in your life, and ultimately in the world?
  3. Kaitlin writes that she lives “on the ‘periphery of Christianity,’ meaning that I exist on the edge of the faith that raised me—not necessarily because I want to but because I am asking so many questions that I have essentially journeyed to the edge of myself. What happens at that edge, I don’t know, and I have peace in not knowing, as uncomfortable as it makes others who don’t want me there.” p.168. If you've experienced something like this please share about it here.