911

It will be ten years ago this September that we commemorate 911. This certainly deserves some reflection... I have been really taken aback by some of the extreme happenings in this country of late. Things it never occurred to me would be issues again, ever, have come back into broad view, under review, called into question, those ideals, laws, huge chunks of historical and political progress, under attack from a seemingly growing fear gripped population. All of the events of the last decade have been such a shock to our collective system. It is difficult not to have compassion for people who are so afraid of everything... I do not believe that people are generally motivated by hatred... I believe they have a great desire to protect "their own" as they see it, and that is something that is understandable, whether I condone their methods or not.

We have not been taught how to process the world which continues to speed up its already break-neck pace. We are moving so fast we cannot adjust. The most gentle form of travel I have ever experienced is, ironically (given one of my last posts) by ship. Crossing slowly and gently through time zones gives the body and mind time to adjust, and not feel any jetlag. Same thing we should be observing now, in general, on a societal level.

It is very obvious why so many have been called to the slower practices of mindful eating and yoga, meditation and tai chi and its ilk. They have become attuned with their own inner paces and have chosen to slow down a little bit, to give themselves time to adjust and attune.

The thing that concerns me is that we now seem to be on the verge of creating what we were so deathly afraid of having visited upon us from the outside. We are trying to take away people's rights at an alarming pace! That is not who we are! We are also weirdly trying to bring democracy to other places where perhaps theocracy or dictatorship were the rule of the day.... and now we behave like the ones we are so afraid of.

What has happened to us? We need so much to slow down and catch our collective breath... and pay attention to each other. I can't say it enough. Please see each other. Be willing and open to seeing someone's heart, whether or not we like what we hear them say. People say things many times for approval, for belonging, for identification. It sounds good and feels good coming from their mouths and so they make it their own. But it does not define them as people. There are no bad people, only loveless acts. Fear and ignorance are not automatically equivalent to hatred. This is why we must be willing to see one another's hearts, so that we can hear each other.

thanks for reading.