Trust your instincts. Elevate your intuition to the superpower that it is. We are born with all the tools we need to live a life that is honest and purposeful. Never let someone else dictate what that means. If you listen to your body, your gut, your heart, it will always tell you what is right and what is wrong. Never do to another person what you would not want to be done to your own self. Really live this way. Which includes forgiveness. Listen to others. Understand where they are coming from. Be as generous as possible, whenever possible. Do not skirt the responsibility of being human. Take diligent care of this planet. Treat your body with devotion and love rather and judgment and control. We only get one. Planet and body. We cannot right all the wrongs of the world but we can commit to doing our best do not to commit more of them. Apologize as often as necessary. Be humble and brave. You do not decide when you've hurt another person, they do. Protect your boundaries and recognize where other's hurt my come from by letting them feel it, rather than dismissing them. Drop your armor and open your mind to new perspectives. Always be willing to learn more. To unlearn, as often we tend to misunderstand and learning is not a linear process. Be patient. Be kind. Be loving. Be love. Be loved.
Healing, period. Pun intended. Periods, worldwide, are like a rallying cry for the desperate healing needed on an ecological, personal, societal, and spiritual level. I want to leave behind a ripple so vast that it cannot stop expanding to encompass all beings everywhere that are suffering unnecessarily. I want to remind people of their power to be a healer, at any given moment. To choose facts over fears, hope over doubt, love over hate, and rationality over delusions. I want to leave behind a wake of people that have felt welcome in my presence and are welcoming to others. I want my legacy to be more than just something to be remembered by but something that will consistently be felt. The best way I can describe this feeling is one of safety and curiosity. I think often people are too afraid to speak up for change, to call out injustices, or stand up to the bully because they are scared of the retribution on a social or familial level. I want to be an example that you don't have to be scared. That there is a built-in karmic system that will support you the moment you step up, speak up, or bravely beam yourself out into the world as the brilliant beings we all truly are -- rather than what someone else told us to be. Especially women. Our power is only beginning to be tapped.
That modesty is something to be praised or applauded. Modesty is a tool of oppression that keeps people from fully realizing their potential, especially women. The historical context of modesty was used by religion to control the display of women's bodies, for men to be able to behave themselves, or out of "respect.' I find this line of thinking, applied to how people dress or how people present their strengths, as dangerous to our self worth as individual people and the health of society, overall. When we are told what to wear, how to act, or whom to please, we play into the power structures that keep certain people down, and others up. We play into the models of patriarchy and misogyny that rule almost ever industry and keep women quiet. They keep us from rocking the boat, they have us feign and fawn and flirt to get ahead and what's worse is that some women believe it's their choice. Modesty seems like such an innocent suggestion or word until you dig into the underlying intention behind it. It's absurd to me that modesty could be considered to be a virtue. Modesty is nothing more than a tool to divide and subject us to lives of comparison, competition, and exclusion of anyone that dares to suggest that there might be more to life than trying to fit into systems that were never built for people to live or thrive in, but rather slowly die in.
The word "Virtue" comes to mind when I think of a rule that I live by. To me, to live virtuously means to follow through with that which I committed to, with respect to myself and the unpredictability of life's journey. Sometimes what feels right in one moment will shift in the next and recognizing this is part of living in my virtue. We often sacrifice ourselves and our own well being to meet the unrealistic expectations of others. I say "we" because this is what we are taught to do by the media and society at large. Just do it. Go for it. Take the risk. Rather than, take your time. You are right on time. You are meant for this. I try to follow this rule in everything that I do. If it feels like it will fulfill me, bring me joy, or align me more closely with my deepest dreams and desires, I go for it. If it feels unaligned in any way, at any point, I walk away. It's for the benefit of everyone involved. I've learned this one the hard way. I do not force what does not want to fit. Alternatively, I will keep giving to the things that feel like I can't get enough. That keeps me inspired and in tune with the things that drive my most creative, curious, and joyful being. I belive that this is what we are here to do.
When I am reading, writing, moving my body, dancing, singing, laughing, breathing, and living in my hopes for the world, rather than my fears. When something goes slightly off course, rather than thinking of all the next things that can go wrong, I focus on what is happening in the present moment, releasing control over that which I cannot control. It's much harder than following the rabbit hole of thoughts of what "could happen," that hasn't even happened yet. This is an ongoing meditation with life and it doesn't just come naturally because we've been conditioned otherwise. We've been taught to buy the insurance and expect the worst. Fear the stranger. Lock every door and put up every fence. And sure, there is good reason to be conscious, cautious, and aware of your surroundings, but there is very little reason to fear them if you have the privilege of living in a safe home. We so often forget this is a gift. Anytime I catch myself falling into the self-pity taught to us by a media machine that wants us to buy and medicate ourselves into a false sense of self-worth, I stop, I take several deep belly breaths and I thank everything I have to thank in my life, even if that day it's only my breath. It puts me automatically into a state of "flow" and unlocks my creative being that knows I can rise above any circumstance or feeling.
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