Be Radical, Heal your Shadow
If you want to change the world for the better, change yourself. If you want to stop the violence against other humans, stop it inside yourself. If you want to see social change vote for the most rational and emotionally stable person that you can identify.
Stop voting colors. Don’t be influenced by irresponsible character assassinations. Vote in an educated and informed way and I am not even telling you who to vote for – notice that. I am simply trying to get you – my reader – to continue to wake up. In my last blog, Simple Gestures, I encouraged you to stay aware at all times of all that is going on on this blue sphere of ours, not just the headlines. The headlines are created by a collective body of agreed upon issues, but there is so much more to see and know about.
And yes, being overly aware of the collective pain and suffering – if you are not a balanced person with a way of staying emotionally fit – can lead to empathic exhaustion. It is for this reason that you want to be involved in a healthy community, to have a place for you to be able to speak openly and be listened to deeply. A place that responds with love when you are in distress.
Right now, the most radical thing you can do and the most radical action you can take would be:
• Wake up, stay aware, and conscious – as I always say: QUESTION EVERYTHING!
• Vote according to character and not mudslinging and remember to check the facts.
• Get and stay emotionally and spiritually healthy.
• Treat all other humans kindly and respectfully.
• Don’t get sucked into divisive conversations.
• Lead with love and respect.
Emotionally healthy individuals is what we need right now. This is my reason for being and, hopefully, what I model. Yes, there are legitimate reasons for being upset and riled up because of the insanity that surrounds us. Follow me here: how can we in 2024 justify war, unrest, injustice, racism, homophobia, and sending our sons and daughters off to a foreign land, while toting a gun, to be prepared to take a life and call ourselves advanced. Over what? Land? Power? Ego? Any religion that does not speak against these choices is not a religion I want to be part of.
Clearly, I am on a rant here and this rant is the result of reading another article in the New York Times about the unrest in the Sudan. My human side struggles to make sense of the decisions that our political leaders make. My spiritual side knows that what we are witnessing is our collective shadows. This is why I constantly encourage all of us to do our individual healing work.
I don’t know what the political right answer is. I don’t pretend to have a handle on any collective solution OTHER THAN knowing that there is only One and this One is a reflection of my consciousness – that is where I will continue to do my work while acting from love around every turn.
Photo credit: Martin Lopez
