Gazing Into the Shadow

Stock image - Yin and Yang

Well hello there. I spent some time thinking about how to start writing again and this is the best start I could think of. I even came back to this opening after writing the rest of the post and yeah- this is what you get. This one is going deep.

During the last 16 months I have tried to be as honest an observer as I am able. It is, of course, impossible to be completely objective when observing a system which you currently live and breathe, but I try nonetheless because we all have to use the gifts we have been given.

Sometimes when you try new ideas or practices, you end up looking and feeling pretty silly. This is not a profitable place to be in a capitalistic society. Modern folks can get very uncomfortable witnessing vulnerability in others. It can even bring on anger in some. I observe these factors as core road blocks to our progression as a society in the US and perhaps all of the capitalist societies. We will all have to get uncomfortable to move forward from this point. We will need to allow ourselves a moment to look and feel stupid, because frankly, we have been.

We will have to take an honest look at what lurks in the shadow of our collective. If you just got the urge to stop reading, you should probably keep reading. And really, its okay, I’m not here to tell anyone that their experience is invalid. I’m here to draw the connections. I’m here to build a bridge, because we are going to need so many bridges.

In order to build all of those bridges, we will have to dismantle and use the materials from the hulking war beast which is the military-industrial complex and that is going to be…complicated. Now I am really choosing my words carefully here. I have a lot of family and friends who have served in the armed forces, police, and as first responders. I participated in a navy youth program in my middle school years. I have spent a lot of time throughout my life observing the culture of the US military from different perspectives. I will always have respect for the strength it takes to bear the crushing weight of the multi-generational trauma which is modern American capitalism.

I’m inviting us all to have a deeper discussion about why this situation has come to pass. Why do we stand on the brinks of so many disasters with such abandon? We are way past the usefulness of discussing left vs. right. It’s time for 3-dimensional politics. I am seeing a connection between our collective blind spot for witnessing vulnerability and our blind spot for understanding just how much change is on the horizon, either through us fixing problems or problems fixing us.

I’ll put forth that it generally makes people feel safer to hold, or be aligned with, power. It is a natural process to master your own personal power. It will be equally beneficial for most to develop some alignment with larger, more powerful forces in their lives. This is part of becoming an adult. This is what connects the migrant families to the Fox news viewers- they’re all just trying to feel safe. Unfortunately we have a situation where the tools for instilling mass fear are far more advanced than the tools for instilling mass empathy and respect, because empathy and respect are not profitable.

Power becomes cancer when it gets out of control. When one person attains too much power, it corrupts. We see this playing out over and over again. It is unrealistic to trust anyone’s intentions fully, 100% of the time, with unlimited power. Oof, that is a tough pill to swallow because it means that you could be evil given the right circumstances and who wants to believe that? Very few are willing to look into that shadow because again, it is not a profitable place to be.

So here’s where it comes together: As above, so below. As the waves of the collective conscious radiate outward so too do the waves of your inner thoughts radiate through you and your actions. As the cell in the body can become cancer, so too can a personality become cancer when it propagates uncontrollably through the body of humanity. You are the cell, and you choose your role in the body.

So today I challenge you to make the micro change which becomes the macro change. Practice what feels like radical empathy and honesty with yourself, and allow that to become empathy and honesty in others. Sit with the uncomfortable feeling of your own humanity and please take your finger off the trigger.

Thanks for reading.