All my life I have been deeply saddened by the continual racism I see in our country. I’m a writer so I look to words for understanding. I see embedded in our language a basic racism. We talk about blackmail as bad but white lies are OK. The examples are endless. And spiritually you’re supposed to go to the light and avoid the darkness.
As a person of light skin, I imagine what it would be like to frequently hear people say, “I just went through a really light time in my life and it was terrible. I’m glad to get away from the light. That whiteness was truly ugly and disturbing.”
I believe that there is a pervasive “spiritual racism” occurring in this country, deeply embedded in our spiritual communities.
Equating light with spirituality doesn’t even make sense. When I get ready to meditate, I don’t go around turning up all the lights or sit under a spotlight. I turn down the lights, close my eyes and enter a blessed darkness where I can feel a connection with all Oneness. I feel more inspired and peaceful staring up at the black night sky than staring at the white sun.
I believe It is time to “blackwash” our language and avoid the terrible lightness of prejudice. Let’s talk about encouraging love and connection and avoiding disconnection and chaos. I find it a good spiritual practice to be aware of my words and try to avoid the white/good, black/bad bias. As a white person it also helps me stay aware of racism and white privilege as I listen to my language and other people’s use of words.
I wish I had a magic wand to change the entire world but I can change my words and so I invite you to join me in embracing the beautiful dark of love.
Greetings,
This is in response to the current world situation concerning the virus Covid-19.
May it bring you peace and new perspectives during this challenging time of
transformation.
(there are links below for more support –
including a poem “from” Covid-19)
I’d like to frame this time as a State of Common
Sense rather than a state of emergency. Viewing it as an emergency pulls us
into the reactive part of our brain called the ‘lizard brain’. That’s the part of us that goes into survival mode and
responds with panic, aggression and competition. It’s a reactive, non-thinking
part that shows up when people frantically go to stores to get toilet paper and
grab enough for a year so that other people don’t have any. Going into a high
anxiety state decreases the immune system and can lead us to make choices that
don’t help us or our community.
Calling this a State of Common Sense moves us
into our creative cerebral cortex where cooperation and connection are
dominant. Viewing ourselves in a State of Common Sense encourages us to slow
down, increase our awareness and make conscious, healthy choices.
Personally, I feel this country (USA) has not used a lot of common
sense when it comes to health. Productivity and consumerism have often been
valued more than physical and mental wellbeing. We now have an opportunity to reverse this system. But
it’s obviously coming at a cost to those who are ill and can be very stressful
to those financially suffering in this time of change.
Two years ago during flu season, I wish we had been
in a State of Common Sense concerning health. People came to work sick at the senior
living complex where my father lived, and he almost died from that flu.
Unfortunately, I’ve often heard people brag about continuing to work while they
are ill as though it were a badge of honor rather than something that’s harmful
to themselves and dangerous to others.
Being sick in this culture can often be
accompanied by self-criticism and denial rather than compassion and nurturing.
We need to increase societal support in general and specifically within
businesses to encourage people to stay home when they are ill. It is common
sense to wash hands, pay attention to your health and stay home when sick.
Now in this State of Common Sense we are encouraged to calmly
ask ourselves – What increases my immune system and my health? Some ideas are:
deep breathing, exercise, meditation, being in nature. Giving yourself a big
hug – go ahead and wrap your arms around your body and love yourself. I feel
healthier when I laugh, smile, and think of five things I’m grateful for. Remember
others, connect safely with friends and family, reach out and do something nice
for somebody.
An easy way I’ve found to support others is through donation.
For all the events that have been canceled, I am donating my tickets back to
support the performers and the venue. For a conference that was canceled, I’m still
paying the retreat center for the room and meals I would have used had I been
able to attend it. This also includes any services from people like haircuts, bodywork, and housecleaning. It’s an easy to be generous because I already
either spent the money or I was planning to spend the money. I’m still able to
work, for which I’m very grateful, and it’s a way for me to help those who aren’t
able to work. I haven’t figured out how to support the restaurants I love but
I’m thinking of just sending a check to one of them, or buying gift certificates. (I don’t care for takeout
and the packaging waste it creates).
This new State of Common Sense around health is positively
affecting the environment. I volunteer with the Institute of Noetic Sciences http://www.noetic.org that has been working on creating a shift in
global consciousness for almost fifty years. They believe the only way to deal
with climate change, and other problems is by changing the way humans think. We
need a shift in consciousness. But sometimes that has felt almost impossible,
especially politically. But now the whole world is focused on health and
starting to make the changes that we’ve needed to make in order to address
climate change. While I have deep compassion for everyone who is affected by
this transformation, it is also very hopeful. I suggest looking at pictures of
China with improved air quality and Venice with cleaner waters. It shows people
that if we change our behavior and our priorities, we can make the choices to
truly address climate issues.
I suggest we all do things for our health and to
support others. This is a link to some ideas https://qz.com/1818622/how-to-practice-self-care-during-coronavirus/
This is an amazing poem “from” Covid-19 that was written by
Kristin Flyntz
https://newstories.org/pandemic/letter-from-covid-19/
Thanks for allowing me to share these thoughts.
I’m very pleased to see how many people are outside
walking in this beautiful area because keeping social distance doesn’t mean isolating
inside. Being in nature is healthy.
It certainly fits with my 100-year-old father's philosophy of
life to be positive, work to build a better world and exercise. And here’s a
link to a video to hear him talk about being 100 and happy. (It's at the bottom of the page below a video of his reading from the book in his honor Choose Live.)
choose-life.php
One of the ways I’m trying to be supportive is
by sending emails. I am also finally getting a blog site and even doing a
Facebook page to help people connect. You can let me know if you’d like to be
included in my blog and also if you’re familiar with Facebook (which I’m
actually not) you could try joining my group by going to Jan Ogren: Laughing
with Spirits. https://www.facebook.com/Jan-Ogren-Laughing-with-Spirits-100406098246977/ And I’ll try posting more there and on my
website.
The good news is we are re-arranging our society
around health. The bad news is we’ve been so out of balance with health that it
is taking a lot of re-organization and it comes at a cost. Let’s support each
other and put our health, our community’s health and our world’s health in a
continual State of Common Sense.
Blessings,
Jan Ogren, MFT
Other resources:
Watch Dolphins returning to Venice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IswEMi7gs4w&feature=emb_rel_end
News about the decrease in pollution in China.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2020/03/16/coronavirus-lockdown-may-have-saved-77000-lives-in-china-just-from-pollution-reduction/#279debe634fe
Meditations with Deepak Chopra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eq1tetWUeM