Been awhile since I have added anything to this page...this might hit heavily. You have been warned.
Practicing compassion meditation for several years now has taught me to see the best in people, animals, experiences. Maybe I'm alone in the following thought, but I don't think so: It is getting harder to see "the best" in any of the goings on of 2015, so far.
Every morning I listen to the news and gather my information for the day. Rarely do I feel compelled to turn it off to remove myself from a story as told. However, with the talk (I refuse to call it discourse, for this is exactly what is MIA in today's media and in the US) revolving around "race" and gay rights and gender identity, so hard and fast right now, I had to do just that! Not because it makes me mad, but because it makes me feel so sad. Humans are just that: human. Nothing more, nothing less, and although the history of the US may have some very traumatic moments, it is the history of OUR country, OUR citizenry, ALL OF US. Not just people with black skin when talking about slavery or the Confederate flag; not just the Irish and Chinese when talking about indentured servitude in creating much of the railways and bridges of this country; not just the Japanese put into internment camps on the West Coast after Pearl Harbor, not just the gays with "Don't Ask, don't tell". This is the history of ALL of the United States and it's HUMANS.
We have become a country of humans placing labels on other humans, living separately and disparately from those around us. We have become people living in neighborhoods for years who don't even know our neighbors, maybe don't want to because of preconceived ideas. In places unfamiliar to us, we only see the fearful places and things, not the beauty of the people and experiences to be had in the unfamiliar and new. When we have gotten to the point that all the "broad, sweeping brushes" of prejudice and stereotypes are never challenged, and we look for the worst, why are we surprised when the worst of human nature is exactly what we get in return?
I want to get more expansive than all of this crap. Challenge ourselves everyday to simply see other humans, to challenge the images we see in the media, challenge the media outlets and the family members spewing disrespect and hatred. Take responsibility for ourselves and our own lives, calling out ourselves when we know what we are doing is wrong for ourselves, unhealthy or dangerous for others. Yes, news flash, we are all connected, but only by asking questions of the people we don't understand, in hopes that we will then be able to do so, can ignorance and hatred be beaten. Only when civil discourse once again becomes the way of the land, when we can speak civilly with one another without preconceived ideas of one another based on our labels, will we see ourselves as humans living in this country, OUR country, and be able to move forward as a group of humans that care for one another and share in the wonderful, troubled, bloody, amazing history that is the United States of America.
On this Fourth of July, let us become more engaged with one another in positive ways, with love in our hearts and questions on our tongues. Our country has been earned and won by all of us, created and formed in all sorts of different ways. Difference is good, but togetherness is better. Let's make it easier to have compassion for others, and not continue down the path that seems to be leading us along lately.Here's to the ancestry of our country!
Practicing compassion meditation for several years now has taught me to see the best in people, animals, experiences. Maybe I'm alone in the following thought, but I don't think so: It is getting harder to see "the best" in any of the goings on of 2015, so far.
Every morning I listen to the news and gather my information for the day. Rarely do I feel compelled to turn it off to remove myself from a story as told. However, with the talk (I refuse to call it discourse, for this is exactly what is MIA in today's media and in the US) revolving around "race" and gay rights and gender identity, so hard and fast right now, I had to do just that! Not because it makes me mad, but because it makes me feel so sad. Humans are just that: human. Nothing more, nothing less, and although the history of the US may have some very traumatic moments, it is the history of OUR country, OUR citizenry, ALL OF US. Not just people with black skin when talking about slavery or the Confederate flag; not just the Irish and Chinese when talking about indentured servitude in creating much of the railways and bridges of this country; not just the Japanese put into internment camps on the West Coast after Pearl Harbor, not just the gays with "Don't Ask, don't tell". This is the history of ALL of the United States and it's HUMANS.
We have become a country of humans placing labels on other humans, living separately and disparately from those around us. We have become people living in neighborhoods for years who don't even know our neighbors, maybe don't want to because of preconceived ideas. In places unfamiliar to us, we only see the fearful places and things, not the beauty of the people and experiences to be had in the unfamiliar and new. When we have gotten to the point that all the "broad, sweeping brushes" of prejudice and stereotypes are never challenged, and we look for the worst, why are we surprised when the worst of human nature is exactly what we get in return?
I want to get more expansive than all of this crap. Challenge ourselves everyday to simply see other humans, to challenge the images we see in the media, challenge the media outlets and the family members spewing disrespect and hatred. Take responsibility for ourselves and our own lives, calling out ourselves when we know what we are doing is wrong for ourselves, unhealthy or dangerous for others. Yes, news flash, we are all connected, but only by asking questions of the people we don't understand, in hopes that we will then be able to do so, can ignorance and hatred be beaten. Only when civil discourse once again becomes the way of the land, when we can speak civilly with one another without preconceived ideas of one another based on our labels, will we see ourselves as humans living in this country, OUR country, and be able to move forward as a group of humans that care for one another and share in the wonderful, troubled, bloody, amazing history that is the United States of America.
On this Fourth of July, let us become more engaged with one another in positive ways, with love in our hearts and questions on our tongues. Our country has been earned and won by all of us, created and formed in all sorts of different ways. Difference is good, but togetherness is better. Let's make it easier to have compassion for others, and not continue down the path that seems to be leading us along lately.Here's to the ancestry of our country!
