Here is my blog on national shadow work – so without, so within.
When we pass judgment, we suffer. We are experiencing the dark center of wounds that have festered for so many years, hundreds of years. As a country, we have yet to heal the traumas and anguish of generations upon generations. The virulent strain of hatred, divisiveness, inequality, righteousness, and entitlement have resurfaced and disgorged in all their raw, unrestrained and bitter essences. We see fear and separation all around us. It is palpable in the very air.
I certainly see this and feel the weight of it. My practice has been to notice how reactive I am to these shadow aspects as I notice them, as they show up in all their ugliness… through our leaders, through the citizenry. I feel my own outrage. I ask myself, “What is it in me that is reacting with such revile?” And, “Whatever it is, how can I heal it?” I must admit, I have had to spend more and more time in meditation and go ever deeper into my practice. I am grateful for the journey. I feel that my best move is to feel, really and genuinely feel a sense of compassion for the suffering that is at the center of all the fear. Once I can feel this compassion, I then send that energy of compassion out into the world in hopes that it will serve as a healing salve. If I can do this, even if just for a moment each day, I feel healing within and I feel victory. Of course, there is much work to do around preserving and gaining even more progress, but here is my starting point – inside of myself.
We are in tumultuous times. I figure my job is to heal the reactivity in myself, learn to listen more deeply to myself and others, dig deeper into creative and compassionate dialog. The unintended consequences of the vitriol that is being spewed out… is to provide a springboard for healing ourselves and therefore heal my part of the wounding of the country… provide a springboard for leaning with conviction to the hard-fought ideals our founding fathers set forth for us and so many since then have continued to struggle to advance. I am called, we are called, to decide – how badly do we really want our democracy? What do we really believe in and are we willing to step into authentically living what those principles mean?
We are right smack in the middle of the fight for civil rights once again – shadow work of epic proportions. This is an old, old wound that we, as a people, need to heal if we are to advance as a people. It starts with each one of us and what our commitment is – for real, to ourselves, to each other, to our country, and to the world.
