In the United States, we are passing through a threshold of change. At this moment no one is sure what will be on the other side, and it is possible that we will not know by tomorrow what is on the other side, and that it may take much longer than we like to know.
No matter who wins the government elections, we are still passing through other thresholds. We are in the midst of a pandemic. We are in the midst of an escalating climate crisis. We are having and raising children. We are taking care of the people who are living.
There is not going to be a singular event that determines history. An event is like a catalyst, like throwing active yeast into flour. An event sets reactions in motion that transform the matter into something else. The 9/11 attacks were one such event. The last election was another. The onset of coronavirus another.
We are periodically reminded of our limitations. How our lives are shaped by historical, political, and economic forces that we only have limited capacity to shape. But in truth, only some of us need this reminding. Many, many more have known this on a daily basis for their entire lives.
In our isolation this year, separated from loved ones and the familiar, many of us have fallen into despair and wondered what is the purpose of anything. Why set goals? Why dream of a future? Why keep showing up to the work?
And on a personal level, we don’t always know. There will always be setbacks and then unexpected moments of huge leaps forward. There will always be adversaries and people who find ways to corrupt what was beautiful and revolutionary, and people who will be corrupted by time and power and systems larger than the self.
Corruption is like mold, like rot, like ants creeping into the kitchen. It is an outcome of cleaning habits and environment. It is the natural world doing what it does, breaking down rigid form so it can feed new forms. And sometimes it breaks down things we love, and sometimes those things need to be broken down.
I do not have answers for us or promises of ease if you simply follow a protocol. My work is about helping others to know themselves and bring that fullness into their lives. None of that guarantees that others will treat that self with respect, but it gives us a much greater chance of finding what heals and empowers us.
Some battles will not end in our lifetimes. Even bigotries and fights we thought were settled seem to get stirred up anew when we least expect it. Each time they hurt, deeply. Not all of us will survive this time, as we know, not all of us have survived.
But.
Think about all the people from whom you have received inspiration, encouragement, or liberation. The book, the teacher, the relative, the friend who showed you something that you didn’t know was possible before. The person walking down the street wearing vibrant clothes that stuck out so much but showed you the enormous world that clothes could be. The person who showed you what kinds of relationships were possible. The writer who opened your mind to a revolutionary perspective.
If you have received a liberating fire in your life, consider that part of your work could be passing along that fire to someone else.
You might not even know all the ways you’ve done it. Perhaps it was when you told someone in public that you thought their joke was hurtful. Perhaps it was when you were just smiling and enjoying the beauty of the world.
There are so many little moments that are unfathomable. There are moments where you might have thought the opposite happened, when someone expressed anger or offense toward you, but it was because you pricked something deep within their souls that was longing to come forward. Something that scared them because they didn’t know it was possible to be you before, and because they didn’t know it was possible they didn’t know that they wanted it, and now that they know it’s possible and they want it they have to live with that knowledge like an itch that may eventually kindle into their own liberatory flame.
Our lives are valuable unto ourselves, and we are part of a web of people who pass the flame of light and aliveness to each other.
