Several days before the tide-turning election, The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story about the newest slur sound bite from the Republicans. Even the most arrogant of them could feel a shift in the wind, the distinct possibility that this election couldn’t be stolen, and that not only could the speaker of the house be from the west, but that speaker could be a woman. The slur that started being slung was “San Francisco values”. As soon as I read that term I broke into a grin. I knew that change was coming and that magic was once again at work.
“San Francisco Values”. I know that this term is meant to invoke fear of gays, wierdos, hippies, beatniks, and radical stances of infinite variety. And I’m sure it does. But what else does it invoke? Beauty, more than anything. New York is full of intensity, New Orleans full of debauchery , and San Francisco, well, San Francisco is full of beauty. It invites poetry, and anything that takes away your breath also makes you slow down and breathe, makes you remember how fabulous it is to be alive on this knockout beautiful green planet.
Each time that term was used, “San Francisco Values”, not only was radicalism invoked, but images of stunning beauty. There’s poverty here, no doubt. But images of the homeless is not what that term calls up. Cable cars, the span of the Golden Gate bridge over the bay, sailboats, gentle hills, outdoor cafes, North Beach, art, and music, that’s what San Francisco invokes. San Francisco is a delight for the senses. It calls out to the fetch, the younger self, the wide eyed child in all of us. The talking self may be against the "values" of San Francisco, but what child doesn't yearn for such beauty? Only the most hardened of hearts can resist it. It’s a sought out place for conventions of all kinds, and it shows visitors, of all parties, a damn good time.
When the war started in Iraq, I started doing a piece of magic involving the TransAmerican Pyramid that dominates our skyline. Downtown, that day, I noticed how the corners were lined up. One corner faced directly down Columbus Avenue, that street of dreams with it’s ghosts of beatniks and poets. A small grove of redwoods is nestled next to another corner, trees that remember what came before the towering buildings. Another corner faces towards Union Square and the energy of downtown. I, with some other witches, started imagining the pyramid actually transmitting San Francisco values to the rest of the country. Several times we went down to the pyramid and all took our place on the corners, sending love, peace, poetry, beauty, joy, and justice up and out of the concrete structure. Crystals and special rocks have been planted all over and in that building. Without us, it still serves as a transmitter, but bringing our consciousness to it has brought a smile to this face many a gray day. On my deck, looking downtown, whenever I’ve seen that pyramid, I’ve seen the beauty and magic of this city being transmitted, being beamed across the miles of this continent.
My housemate came home after the election, battered and bruised energetically by her frontlines job at MoveOn.org. They’ve been all working hard, putting their shoulder to the wheel in turning the direction of this lumbering beast of a so-called democracy. The direction turned the other day. So many of us have played a part in this turn. I’m grateful to all. And I really do believe in magic.
But then, I actually do have San Francisco Values.
3 comments:
I am pro "San Francisco Values" - and I vote!
The funny thing about Nancy Pelosi is that I remember when she first ran for Congresscreature in SF, back in the late 80s. Our anarchist friends were SO against her! She was too rich to represent our SF values, was the basic line of thinking.
One friend in particular was racking his brains to think of a slogan to spray paint all over her signs. The City was plastered with "Nancy Pelosi: A Voice that Will Be Heard" signs, the election was coming up, and he couldn't think of a snappy retort. I suggested "Money Talks," and he was ecstatic. But it was only a couple days before the election and he didn't manage to spray too many signs. Besides, I doubt whether people are ever swayed by graffiti-ed signage.
I too think of San Francisco as a city of unparalleled beauty.
Never been to San Francisco, but I imagine it as a beacon, a city of light, showing us the way.
We sure need it.
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