We all agree. Everyone wants the same thing for ourselves, our families, our country, our world. One without war, famine, racism, fear. We want peace, equality, freedom, safety, happiness, prosperity. The kicker is that we all have different ideas of what that may look like based on our individual perspectives.
Since we are not feeling safe, or free we use our perspective to ascertain what the problem is and we decide on a solution. This is where we are going awry. When we misinterpret the problem, we mis the mark with our solutions. While our personal perspective is important, we have to acknowledge that it is based not on fact but on our interpretation of our experience. We then take this experience and generalize to the whole. The only way to see past our perspective is to keep remembering that we are all on the same team.
We are not at odds with one another. I think, in fact, we have never been more aligned. But we have lost perspective, or more clearly stated we have gotten lost in our perspective. We are being drawn into herd mentality and we need to tread very carefully here. We are being shaken awake, all of us, and that is a gift, but if we do not slow our roll we will be consumed by a wave of reactivity and squander the potential for the goals we all want to achieve.
For every perspective presented to us, it is incumbent upon us to seek out the alternative perspective. The brain is quick to judge based on very limited information, it it quick to ignore data that does not fit its narrative, and it is quick to attack anyone who wants to offer that data. The brain wants resolution and it doesn’t need the facts to arrive at it, or at best cherry picks. The brain is presenting everything as black and white, but this could not be father from the case.
I invite you to ask the questions you want to know the answers to, even if you are criticized for it. Resist taking any information you hear as fact until you have done your due diligence. This is not so much about which side we are on but will this bring us peace, safety, equality and love for one another.
Peace has never existed before. We have been a separate and divided society and globe since time began. Our history as a people is incredibly violent and based on domination and power over others. There is no peace in our history, there is no template for where we have the potential to go but we run the serious risk of becoming more unconscious rather than raising it to a new level. No one has the answers to this, no one is an expert. No one knows better than you. Trust yourself here, listen to the whispers of what does and does not feel right. Do not override your inner compass or trample your own integrity.
And the SHOULDS!!! Watch the SHOULDs very carefully - they are a red flag that we have disconnected from ourselves and given our sovereignty over to another. Please don’t let anyone tell you what you should think, how you should act and what you can say. If we are thinking like everyone else we are not thinking, we are following the herd and we are unconscious.
Consensus does not make something true. We have completely lost perspective, we are being swept up with the tide, and the reactivity we are seeing is deeply concerning and dangerous to us all and to our democracy but it is not too late. With discernment we can regain our footing, move beyond reactivity to creativity and re-engage in a constructive way that creates the culture we all strive for.
The answers will emerge when we have correctly diagnosed the problem. That will take presence, patience, dialogue and soul searching. Our job is to stay open, stay curious, stay discerning, stay peaceful. I believe that as we forge ahead as one we will, TOGETHER, create something truly miraculous.
For more on perspective listen to this podcast by Sam Harris, Can we pull back from the brink?
Love and peace to ALL,
xoxo Jill