Transform yourself to transform the world… Grace Lee Boggs
What’s going on?
Across the world, cities are coming alive with awakenings. These are important times, perhaps what Joanna Macy calls the “great turning.” Some have been on this path for a while, and for others it is rather new. Regardless, as always, we will need each other to learn from, share with, and lean on. Together we will evolve. Together we will wake up.
Including More
It dawned on me a few years ago that the matrix journeying I was doing with clients, looking into their lifelong webs and travelling back in time to generational lineages, was short sighted. I was “progressive” in my field, but not progressive enough as I hadn’t seen that the matrix of the individual was directly related to the matrix of culture. Transformative wisdom teaches us that history is important- I had seen this from a micro lens, and, had excluded the crucial macro lens.
This seeing was my entry way into exploring how the dominant narrative culturally exists, and that our individual dominant narrative mirrors that: they are all webbed within a matrix. For example, when we live in a culture that is run by a white authoritative narrative, and we do, we will embody that authoritative narrative within ourselves, and we do.
This was pretty “radical” wake up back then. Social justice groups weren’t very interested in their own individual dominant narrative, and still often aren’t. Spiritual and psychological groups weren’t so interested in culture’s dominant narrative, and still often aren’t. But here we are- in a time when it’s clear that the micro and the macro are inseparable, and it is becoming crystal clear that as social justice advocates, we must be connected to what is going on internally, and as healers and somatic practitioners, we must be connected to what is going on with culture. As forerunners of change, we are invited to go deeper into the relationship of all things so that true change and transformation can occur.
For many of you, what I’ve just said will make sense, and for others I may be using language that is new or confusing. Keep reading… I write many posts that will usher in useful context.
Some of you have asked about my own journey of waking up with regards to racism and social injustice. I prefer to center Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) voices, however since I have written on these topics in the past I am sharing them in this post, as many have shared that they have been useful in exploring racism and our historically racist culture.
If you don’t have time to read any of the posts below, please consider checking out this link.
It has extensive list of resources that are categorized, and way beyond my own personal list of resources that I offer in one of my posts below. There is also this link, which has an annotated and non-annotated option. There are many great lists of resources, these are just two.
My Journey, though blog posts
These posts are shared following the timeline in which they were written. You will see my own personal evolution, as you read them. There is a lot not included in these posts, but I hope that they will provide some useful information. The waking up continues!
*Connecting to the Heart While Connecting to the Social Justice Pain. The first in a 3 part series, in this post I explore how to be more present to social injustices, while staying in my heart.
*The Gift of Consciously Connecting to Anger, aka Social Justice, Heart-Work, and Evolution. In this post I dive deeper into how not to fall into overwhelm and debilitating anger when we start to wake up to social injustices.
*Heart-Work; Guiding us Forward. The third in a 3 part series, in this post I dive more deeply into what I call “Heart work” and some practical tips to stay connected to heart while exploring painful realities.
*Acknowledging the Racist Within: confronting my white privilege and ignorance. This is my “coming out” story of my own racism.
*Resources that help me learn: Including our bodies in social justice: voices that teach. In this blog post I share resources that have helped me long the journey.
*Loosening the Grip of Oppression. This blog post explores the oppression that lives inside our minds; learning about this territory is central to waking up and having compassion for our self.
*Deepening With Each Other. In this blog post I write about how in 2019 I moved from being somewhat isolated to being an active and engaged participant in life, and some key learnings that came with it.
*New Year’s Clarity. In this piece I write about questions to connect with that will help guide me into 2020
