Stop.
Ground.
Listen.
Sense.
We are being bombarded by histrionic information. This is not an accident. It is by design.
Ground. Then shields up. Strong. Sense. Think.
What is really going on? Quiet your soul. Breathe. What is actually occurring? When you have an idea of what’s really happening, come back to your tribe and tell us what you’ve learned, please.
But right now–ground, sense, listen. Intuit.
It is neither the one nor the other, but both and neither. Look for the third way, and the fourth.
Strategy.
Wide-ranging thought.
Profound connection.
The days since last week’s Women’s March have been very full, emotionally challenging and charged. Social media–in my case Facebook and Twitter (I am a terrible Instagram slacker)–is full of hand-wringing as well as genuine distress. Reports are coming in from the new president’s first full week in office and every stroke of his pen seems designed to insure disaster, taking the Republic over the edge of the cliff.
Or are we well-placed to engage deeply as citizens, to stand up to the Powers that Are and stand by the citizens–the neighbors–that need us?
Yesterday, I recommended that every woman read Machiavelli’s The Prince and my friend Thrax recommended Xenophon’s Cyropaedia. But first, may I suggest we start with the foundational documents of our tattered republic? How about The Declaration of Independence?
Let’s broaden our knowledge base, sharpen our compassion skills–and remember what it means to be an active citizen in a democratic republic? “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” was queried of Ben Franklin, after the Constitutional Convention of 1787. “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”
Can we?
I took classes at this mostly Women’s Retreat in Missouri called, Diana’s Grove, for many years. Cynthia Jones there, (influenced by Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung & Jean Houston) taught about “the 4 levels of reality” that we live in. For example, I’m sitting on the couch reading. You come in, slam the door, and go into the bathroom. Level 1: Physical reality decsribes exactly what just happened. Level 2: Emotional reality is my perception that you must be quite upset to slam the door like that and go into the other room without speaking. Level 3: Mythic reality is the story my mind fabricates to explain your behavior… Oh, you must be mad at ME for something I’ve done to come in like that, slamming the door and rush to the bathroom without speaking. Level 4: True reality is that you were rushing and concentating because you had been sitting in traffic for the last hour and REALLY had to pee! This really helped me to evaluate situations and realize that things weren’t always about me or even remotely related to me. Good reality check. I found this very helpful, and it guided me to ground, sense, and be aware of what is really going on, not just the story my brain makes up to explain things that happen and other people’s behavior. You have similar teaching! Thank you so much for sharing!! Rhi Vaughan, Asheville
Thanks so much for this!