You have Power. The Power to make Change. The Power to love. The Power to put others at ease. The Power to support people who are doing things that we cannot. The Power to Sing, to Bake, to Coordinate, to Draw, to Take Care, to Learn, to Reach Out and to Protect our Mother Earth that needs us so much.
Using that Power does not mean you have to be someone you are not. It does not need to lead to burnout. It doesn’t mean you have to confront others with your anger. It means that you count. You matter. We matter. And we need you to make things right, as our race as humans has made too many mistakes. If we do not undo them, together, we will not be here on this planet much longer.
Step into the River with us. We need you. We love you. We want to Dance with you. We are Moving together, Praying together, Speaking out together and as things are constantly changing, we will find our way. We Will Make it Right.
And we will restore love in places where love has been lost.
You matter. Your power is right here, right inside you. It might be covered up by many things, but it is there. And there are ways to express that power that are going to make you feel fantastic, not frustrated or depressed. Not even burned out. A lot has changed since the 60’s and if you haven’t been in touch with any sort of movement in the past 10-15 years, you are going to be really excited when you do.
Let me describe to you an amazing, nourishing and inspiring web of life that you can be a part of. We get to tap into this gorgeous ecosystem of humans contributing to positive change that spans this entire planet. It is dynamic, always changing and infinitely creative. It includes petition signers, carpenters, scientists and lawyers. It has great cooks, healers, midwives, parents and carpenters. It includes advocates, political organizers, direct action participants and teachers. It has artists and writers, dancers and speakers, coordinators and lovers. Every walk of life and every continent. It holds all faiths and sings heart-stilling prayers. There are spiritual activists and political activists and gratefully, a growing number of people who are both. We have our environmentalists and labor unions, wonderful storytellers and a whole lot of people who just show up where ever they are needed.
When we forget about this magnificent web, it can be very hard, but luckily, these days all we need to do is go online and search for it and we are connected again. We read and we watch and sometimes we shed tears of empathy with those people are working for. We sometimes weep in joy for what is truly happening, which is an ever blossoming of beauty and a passionate expression of life. We say thank you. Thank you all. You feed me. I am a part, too. I do my part, no matter how small, it is big. Bigger then you anyone can imagine. Because our state of being, our actions, our choices and our words ripple out to everyone that touches us, as we are changed by everyone that we touch.
So, what is your precious gift? Are you the one that can bring yummy food to the next volunteer event? Food nurtures community. It reminds people to take a break. It creates a space for socializing and relationship building. It makes people feel cared for. Did you notice that the word isn’t getting out about a great event coming up? Post it around, ask people to invite their friends. Take pics and post them later so our collective consciousness can be part of the good stuff. Are you good with tools? Look for a group that is building homes for the poor and homeless. Are you an artist? Bring forth the spirit and song of what we are all feeling to us in a beautiful way to feed our spirits as we move forward. Lawyers can represent our political prisoners. Networkers can connect people whose gifts coincide. I could go on, endlessly, because the gifts that we hold come in an endless variety.
Some of us know what our gifts are. Some of us need to just show up and put our bodies next to others and say,”I care.” Eventually, we find what works for us. If you want to soul-search for your gift, think about what you have passion for. The element that brings out your power is your passion. Most of us care about an awful lot of things but some things just make our whole bodies react. There need be no explanation. This is where our power is. It is a deeply personal, deeply powerful expression of who we are. Underneath the fear, the apathy, the cynicism, the powerlessness is always passion. Passion that when, ignored or kept down, will make us sick. When we let it out, energy is allowed to flow and the world changes.
Activism does not mean anger. It means active, doing. We can no longer be inactive because those that are actively destroying the planet never stop.
Nobody wants to burn out. That is why we focus on what nourishes us the most. When we see people doing things that we care about but don’t have passion for, we are grateful for them and proud to be part of the family. When we see people doing things on a level that are beyond our capacity, we say, “Wow. Look at that. Thank you. What can I do to support you?” Supporting a front line activist is invigorating because they hold a lot of transformative fire. Sometimes just being around them changes us and makes us think of things we hadn’t thought of before. They often are channeling powerful visions for us as well. These people do ride the line of burnout, so giving them your time helps them to stay strong. Sometimes we need to make sure they are eating. Sometimes they need someone to hold space for them to speak their feelings. Always, we can find the little things that they can’t do because they are overwhelmed with the bigger things. These little things are not little. They are the platform from which others can do their work.
And then we go home and take care of ourselves. Our weaving interacts with other weavings as we make this world we live in together. We create our reality together.
Love is what we all want. Loving communities, policies that care for all peoples, leaders that make informed decisions and allocate resources in ways that provide healing to our planet.
We are this planet.
OK, I can’t resist referring to Merry’s speech to the Ent and to Pippin in the Two Towers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXgWZyb_HgE
It makes me cry every time I see it.
Blessings,
Tasara