Do you find it difficult to maintain your equilibrium– to find your center — in the face of public and political actions that are against everything you believe in?
I do, too. So when I saw this post by my Facebook friend about how she found her center in this situation, I was inspired. And thought you might like to see it, too. I was so pleased when my she allowed me to reprint her Facebook post in its entirety. So here it is:
by Lisa Wolfe
Recently I’ve taken on my judgment of Trump supporters.
I used to experience blinding rage–so unlike my usual demeanor.
I didn’t understand it, but I started to understand “crimes of passion”.
I literally could not access my rational mind when confronted by supporters of the current administration. I just wanted to scream, hit, lash out. It bothered me that my usual calm could be so disrupted.
So, there’s a guy at the shop up the street, who’s been working a lot recently. He watches Fox News on the store TV. Loudly.
The first time, I was short with him and left quickly. After the fourth time (every time I’d asked where my friend, the owner of the shop was), I looked him in the eyes and saw how pretty his blue eyes are. (It helped that the TV was off).
He’s kind to Joey, my dog, and sweet.
And I saw the little boy he was. I’m certainly not going to be close friends with the guy–but I’m no longer triggered to the point I would do something stupid.
Today some guy made a dumb comment on FB. I went to his profile.
A boomer, with a sad resignation on his face. Nothing but video games that he’d played on his feed. The pictures show sad smiling children, his morbidly obese wife, his military honors on a table and hung on the wall.
And I was simply hit by a wave of sadness. I had relatives like this, tangentially–my step-grandparents, my brothers’.
They live tiny lives, with their small hobbies and small dogs with painted toenails. They complain to each other, bicker constantly, and seldom smile.
It’s the unrealized potential. The small-mindedness, the limited perspective…it’s truly a different level of consciousness.
Not to dehumanize–the point is, what if they’d been shown the world as children? Been exposed to great music, art, ideas? Allowed to feel their feelings, and given the freedom to explore history, science, spirituality?
That’s the great sadness of this time. Our visceral instinct is to attack the racists, bigots and blind supporters of the selling out of the American democracy.
But they’re just traumatized humans, raised in households where there were secrets and emotions were considered weak. Their shining joy of childhood was dimmed by the old paradigm.
While we must remember their humanity, we also need to understand that their ignorance mustn’t be allowed to destroy us. The time for politeness is over. We can have compassion without mistaking it for compromise.
I’m no longer triggered.
That does NOT mean I will look away when these distorted humans do heinous things.
But it does mean that I won’t be on their “us-vs-them” level.
I’ll continue my work for a new world. It’s only by embracing the humanity of EVERYONE that we can create a new world.
Onward, loves.
Thank you, Lisa, for allow me to share your thoughts and inspiration. If you’re having trouble sleeping or feeling anxiety, check out my products and remember, some are absolutely FREE to help during this anxious time.
Brilliant. I think looking someone in the eyes is the best way to avoid filing them in a pre-set, pre-judged cubicle.
But the statement that most stood out to me? “We can have compassion without mistaking it for compromise.”
We don’t have to resort to hatred and anger.
Thank you for this, Lisa! And for sharing it, Carol!
This is something I have wrestled with so much too. I agree about repressed emotions. Childhood emotional neglect is a plague in America. Agree about all of this. Thanks!
I believe there are different levels of consciousness. Who knows, maybe there are (most likely) enlightened beings who walk among us. But I agree there’s nothing enlightened about espousing hatred and violence, which many of his supporters love. The question is it possible to raise consciousness or is it something you’re born with?
Heavy question, Laurie, but such a good one. It takes work, for sure. Effort. And a fight against knee-jerk response. I am only a work in progress….
Dear Carol and Friends, it’s a steady diet of tee-vee watching and video games that shrinks lives. Not so good on the brain-cells either. And oh. just plain toxic on the immortal soul.
I can not disagree. My news diet is helpful.
I don’t know. “They live tiny lives, with their small hobbies and small dogs with painted toenails. They complain to each other, bicker constantly, and seldom smile.” Sounds a bit judgmental.
Many of these people live passionate lives with convictions that we cannot understand. Since some of these people are part of my family, I feel so estranged. Yes, it does make me angry.
Yes, I think it is judgmental and I can actually see myself making those same observations. I remember looking at a family member and seeing a similar view. I wish I believed we were all nonjudgmental but for me the most important thing is to connect with compassion for their situation. I have struggled a bit with how other view the things I see so differently and have come to see it all as part of a person’s world view, determined by so many things. I am reminded of the romance in the Good Fight between Christine Baranski’s character and her husband, and the accommodations shehad to make.