Activism

We are taught/conditioned from the moment we are born and have a pacifier put into our mouths, to be obedient consumers, to value things over relationships, achievement over joy and inner peace, and to nurture disconnection (masquerading as freedom) over our basic interdependent nature, which naturally motivates us to live with compassionate concern for our larger community, both human and more than human. We are numbed into accepting that some people matter and others don’t, that some beings are more valuable than others, that inequity and injustice, sexism and racism are “normal”, that poisoning our land, air and water is “normal”, and yet, all of these things are signs of decay, or rotting, and our systems are crumbling, they are coming apart at the seams. But, decaying matter is what creates fertile soil. Death precedes rebirth.

Activism can take many forms from marching in the streets to demand justice, to holding spaces of deep peace within that ripple outward. I think of what we label activism as being an engaged citizen. We need to engage in this shift in whatever way we can, and bring our gifts to be part of the solution. We all have a part to play in this moment that Joanna Macy calls, The Great Turning. Whatever we call it, we are in a mythic moment, we are crossing a bridge that is spanning a great river as we move through the death of one age into the birth of another. Some of my indigenous teachers have said we are moving from the Age of Separation into the Age of Unity. May it be so! It is messy and intense, as birth tends to be. It is also beautiful and awe-inspiring, as both natural births and deaths tend to be.

One of the reasons I help people to heal is I know how hard it is to engage in larger issues when you feel awful and are struggling to survive. We must heal ourselves and remember we are whole. We need to pick up our power, our gifts. Whether we educate others, donate services to those who can’t afford them, give money to causes we care about, raise a loving family, create transformative art, plant gardens, sell hand-crafted herbal products, re-wild public spaces, advocate for justice, join a neighborhood sustainability group, write visionary poetry, open a food co-op, or anything else, there is always something we can do to be part of the solution. In my experience, we need to be involved in something larger than ourselves at this time,  if nothing else, to counter the despair and apathy that the “powers that be” want us to drown in.

The more Joy we can bring to our activism, the more Transformation we can bring about.

My friend Stella Horgan gave me permission to post this short video. It is from a permaculture graduation ceremony in South Africa and to me it exemplifies how Joy can help women prevail even in the harshest conditions, as we work together to change those conditions for everyone.