Conscious Activism: Levelling Up The Way To Positive Change
There is a great deal of controversy right now over the "powers that be" on this planet. There seems to be a massive divide between those who are questioning those in power and those who are questioning those who are questioning those in power (that was a mouthful).
So let's take a look at the one thing that we're all talking about but what no one wants to actually address: Power.
We all know how it feels to experience powerlessness. Each of us come into this world with a great sense of powerlessness because we're literally at the mercy of the caregivers around us. We aren't yet physically, mentally or emotionally capable of caring for our own needs so our power, by default, has to be outsourced; in most cases, to our parents.
If we move through our childhood with healthy parents who both own their own power and make room for their children to fall down, mess up and discover how to get back up and course correct, we will likely emerge into adulthood with a decent grip on how to sit within our own power.
But let's stop talking about fairytales and paint a more realistic picture.
Most of us are parented by people who love us dearly but are still dealing with unresolved issues from their own childhood and so are parenting from a place of both love and fear. It just seems to be part of our journey here and the blessing is that we emerge from our childhoods with some battle scars that, of their own virtue, seek out healing and balance.
Off we go into the world of adulting and it's here that we attempt to gain some footing under ourselves. It's here that we actually get to hold our own and make up our own minds about what feels right for us and what doesn't.
As we become better functioning human beings, we might feel a little more self-possessed and confident in our beliefs about the world we want to live in.
And yet, something still feels off. There's still an uneasiness; a restless feeling of not fully being in control.
When that realization begins to dawn, we realize that what we continue to assert, as part of an ever-developing belief system, will always, always, always, have an opposing force; that for every hard-held belief of 'how things should be' there will always and inevitably be opposition.
This is the very basis of every sport, every political platform, every environmental argument, every opinion on parenting, healing, praying, that we will ever hold. For every held belief or assertion, there is sure to be an opposition.
In order to not feel so alone in our belief systems, preferences and ideologies, we will seek out others who agree with us. We will seek them out so that we have back-up, agreement and support.
We call this Tribal Mentality.
Anytime we gather within a like-minded Tribe in order to assert our belief system (whatever it may be) we do so because of the opposing force. It then becomes Us against Them. And no matter how convinced you are that you are on the 'right side of justice' you've set yourself up on a battlefield.
Egos LOVE battlefields. Egos can only exist within contrast; in other words, my ego can only shout and coerce and push and hold court when there is an opposing force. It needs the battle.
I want to offer another way.
This other way goes beyond the righteous indignation and the moral high ground and the ardent belief that I am right! I just KNOW it!
In order to get there we have to be willing to inquire deep within ourselves about what it is that we really, really want. What is most meaningful to us, beyond the exterior state of the world? Because the exterior simply shows up as a reflection of the interior. So what do we really want?
When we sit down and get quiet and let go of the world of form for just a minute, can you see what you're really doing here? Can you access that silent space within you and feel around, not on an intellectual level, but on a heart level of what is most meaningful to you?
When you do, you'll likely find that your wants and needs are incredibly simple. They might reveal themselves as:
Peace
Freedom
Vibrance
Joy
Unconditional Love
If you stay on the battleground, you miss this. You completely miss the fundamental states of being that you're actually seeking. In the fight to convince, persuade, shame, violate, argue, bust open, be right, make wrong and condemn, we move far, far away from our most fundamental nature.
Because Peace, Freedom, Vibrance, Joy and Unconditional Love are WHO WE ARE in our innermost Being. Our entire reason for incarnating is to both forget and then reclaim who and what we are on our deepest levels.
So would it stand to reason that sitting in silence everyday, even for 10 minutes, and calling in and marinating in these states of being that we most want might be the most conscious way to incite change on this planet?
Fighting or persuading on the level of form (the exterior world) is like putting a bandaid on a persistent weeping wound and expecting it to heal. Until we get to its root, we can keep putting bandaid after bandaid on and nothing will shift. Only by going to what is fundamental can we heal and shift.
Nietzsche, the great German philosopher of the 19th century said it best. “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
It should be noted that as of the writing of this, as with anything that I ever write, I do so because this has been a personal struggle of mine. I have a deeply passionate activist within me and I don't always do this from a conscious space. But I am always willing to die on the cross. I am forever willing to step back from myself and see where I have acted out of fear rather than love. And when life becomes particularly painful it catalyzes my own transformation.
I'm grateful for the people in my life that continue to show up and challenge me and remind me (whether it's done consciously or unconsciously) that I have deeper to go and more to unravel.
To your continued unfolding into the free and vibrant Being you've always been in your heart...