Here's a thing...
A short piece from the vaults, edited for today
So here's a thing... Not a one of us can do this thing called Life alone, in a vacuum. We need each other, to reflect off of, to look deeper into, to interact and experience the whole of what we can in this world, this life.
We need each other, for holding up and tearing down. We each need others to help us fight our battles (but not fight them for us). We need others to see us and hear us, but not "fix" us. We need others to help us get to the core of thoughts and feelings, but not tell us what to think or feel.
I believe in community and relationships. I believe we are not in competition with others, that we are not in a race, and that the only "prize" at the end of the day is knowing that we are loved and have loved others to the best of our ability.
We live in a culture that tries to sell the story of a rat race and climbing ladders and the importance of numbers and statistics. We are fed story after story of how we don't measure up and how this (imaginary) person does and how we need to "work harder" and "do better" to be more like “them”.
We are told we can't be ourselves because we would never, ever, be loved or accepted just as we are.
And yet...
Throughout my life, both in the personal realm and working realm, I am shown over and over, how we are not alone and how, when we share our deep stories, our truths, our Self without the mask, we find our people, we find connection, we find ourselves accepted just as we are.
There is breath in these spaces. Spaciousness. Anxiety slips or runs away and a sense of "I'm okay, you're okay and we're all going to be okay." settles in.
I have the honor to supporting others in their work and life. Of witnessing shame melt away and others and myself breathe easier in the knowing we are not alone, there others out there who "get it," who get us.
These spaces cannot exist if we are in constant competition with each other. These spaces cannot exist if we continue to believe the stories of how we are too much and not enough. These spaces cannot exist when we try to pretend we are someone or something we are not.
These spaces only exist because the people in them are willing to be themselves. To show the good, the not so great; the gorgeous and the hideous. To allow themselves, and others, to be fully, completely, human. To do the painstaking work of unmasking, unlearning, unindoctrinating.
We don't need to push each other away or down or out.
That is a lie our culture feeds us.
I'm calling bullshit.
This essay was originally published on FB in June 2016. It has been revised for publication today.
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GiG : 05. Guided Meditation - Connecting & Releasing control - Grounding in Grace series (active link provided soon)
Change, growth, knowing - A random list o tings (active link provided soon)
Sometimes (v. 9) - A short piece from the vaults, edited for today (active link provided soon)
Memes, images, poems, quotes
