Letting love flow beyond its barriers
This Saturday, I found myself at the airport, catching a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah to do some presentations on holistic psychiatry. As you probably know, the environment at the airport has changed dramatically over the years. First came the scanners and the 3 fl. oz. bottle limits. Then came the fees for checked bags with containers greater than 3 fl. ozs.
But this week, as I shuffled along with everyone else in line, my eyes caught sight of a sign announcing that by October 2020, everyone will need to have a (yellow) star on their driver's license (real I.D.), or have a passport, in order to travel. A yellow star?! Are you kidding me? Why couldn't it have been a circle, a square, or a triangle?
Not only was I disturbed by the "add a star" to an identification card and its uncanny resemblance to the yellow star of the Nazi regime, but I found that other people were also disturbed by the sign and the requirement.
The star also reminded me of Dr. Seuss's story, "The Sneetches," in which having or not having a star worked to segregate the Sneetches, making one group "better" than another. Having to segregate myself into one of six lines (based on the cost of my ticket) before boarding the plane did not change my sense of the airport as a symptom of the spreading plague destroying America.
Let's call out the culture of division and disenfranchisement gradually increasing around us. Ostracizing one group to create fake unity for another was, and continues to be, a failed social experiment. True belonging requires us to first belong to ourselves and the courage to brave the wilderness alone, as Brené Brown pointed out. In our time, it may mean to stand up and speak out against forces that create class differences and marginalize or harm the vulnerable and disempowered.
At the Airport: Signs of a Changing America
Coping with division and disenfranchisement
As I had written above, my experiences at the airport struck me as a surreal reminder of German fascism. In the article, "Words Create Worlds" from Badger online magazine pgs 52-60, Dr. David Kopacz, MD, a holistic psychiatrist, writes:
"In our forthcoming book, 'Becoming Medicine: Pathways of Initiation into a Living Spirituality.' Joseph Rael and I felt that we had to include something about the pathway that the world is heading down, a pathway that can lead to a loss of peace, to the start of war.
The world is currently on a pathway that is being paved with words of separation: racist words, belittling words, disrespectful words, manipulative words, fundamentalist words, totalitarian words, and fascist words. Common to all of these words is an underlying attempt to recreate a world of separation, isolation, and hate."
These changes happen gradually one word at a time; one act at a time; one slight shift at a time. The road to unity gradually veers until there is only us vs. them, rich vs. poor, white vs. black, and right vs. left. The "separation, isolation, and hate" that Dr. Kopacz refers to are currently influencing politics, gun violence, mental health, and the environment. Humans can passively adjust to just about anything and follow paths that lead to just about anywhere. However, I believe we are creators, and not the created.
I don't care if you are a 15-year-old student, a 30-year-old homemaker, a 40-year-old CEO, or a 65-year-old retiree, I believe you can make a positive difference and be a creator of good. Yes, I mean you! Especially right now when your voice of love, truth, unity, and peace is so important for our social sanity.
So speak up, stand up, and be the best person you can be. Guard yourself from heart and mind-numbing influences, drugs, and medications. Be present. Remove yourself from groups that incite separation and a "Sneetches" mentality. Think for yourself. Discern between what is right and wrong and stick to your principles. It's not easy, but it can be done one word, one act, and one choice at a time.
The wall at Oquirrh Lake, South Jordan, Utah
Ask yourself in your daily thoughts and actions: Is this true? Is this loving? Is this peaceful? Is this unifying? If not, don't think it, do it or follow it. In your work, ask yourself the same questions and live your highest good. You cannot control what others say or do, but you can keep your compass on life-affirming choices. That is always the strongest position because that is where Life-Energy exists.
Second, ask yourself what you can do to help move the dial towards greater compassion, truth, and goodness in the world. Don't let excuses get in the way of your activism. Did 15-year-old Greta Thunberg use her age as an excuse to stop herself from being an environmental activist on climate change? She found a way to express her truth and make a positive difference. If she can, anyone can.
You were meant to be the light where you stand. So stand tall and be the light you are meant to be. I believe you can.