Don’t lose heart

As it’s almost been a month since the election results, I’m getting some perspective and some experience in the aftermath. I see a lot of people grieving and feeling the impending oppression that looms above us like a cloud of hopelessness. Part of what saddens us is how many of our fellow country mates cast their vote for this administration that comes in the name of freedom and morals but is actually using one of the most basic tool sets of control: fear and division.

Who will resist this oppression? Those of us who live by spirit and not by fear. The artists, the intellectuals, those of us with a soulful connection to nature, and the people committed to a path of integrity are not falling for this facade. 

If you are a painter, then paint. If you are a singer, then sing. Dancers, dance and writers, write. If you are a tender of the earth and a grower of food, then do that with all the integrity of heart and mind that you have. Whatever you do in life, engage with your spirit and live your creative acts of defiance. This is a resistance of the soul, of true spirit, and of our deepest connection to life itself. The oppression that is coming is one that comes in the name of change and revolution, but it is actually a move to control, suppress, bind together, and make us homogeneous. This has always been the difference between religion and spirit. 

Religare, the latin root of “religion” means to tie or bind together. Spire, the latin root for “spirit” means to Breathe. The breath is what connects us to our truest life source, to all that is. Religion can be weaponized and used to dominate. Spirit is vitality itself and, left in its flourishing and natural state, is not amenable to be used as a tool for dominance. Religion can be harmfully abused and can become the appropriation of spirit. People have been confusing religion and spirit for millenia. That confusion is being highlighted now in our nation.

Religion can be misused to breed a fear of true self expression, of diversity, and of individuals realizing their potential by connecting authentically to their spirit. Those rising to power are capitalizing on this fear because it’s much harder to control and dominate a population of people who are diverse, empowered, free, and unafraid to live with a flourishing and free spirit. It takes courage, now more than ever in my lifetime, to believe that the very fabric of our souls—especially that which makes us more sensitive, more caring, and more grieved is that which will save us all. 

When someone claims to come in the name of truth and righteousness—when in fact they are deceitful, self-seeking, and power-hungry—of course those of us who are the artists, the intellectuals, the genuine truth-seekers will feel appalled, horrified, and upset by how many have been taken in by his schemes. But some of us know how to recognize what’s false—those of us who have lived this path of sincerity to the the exclusion of praise and acceptance by the majority all of our lives. We have always forged our own paths, those of us who live by spirit, and we see each other with the recognition and admiration of a fellow sojourner. You and I may subscribe to different worldviews—we may call spirit by different names—but we are united by a common thread of the pursuit of what’s true, what’s real, and what’s good. 

This new administration comes promising to give you freedom, and in fact wants to squash the very spark within us. But it won’t. It can’t. Because that spark of spirit is Life itself, a force not so easily extinguished. It is the very creative power that made everything out of nothing, order and patterns out of chaos, from the details of fingerprints to the celestial bodies in the sky. Civilizations will rise and fall, but this current of Life that resides within us all will not ever be destroyed. It may change shape and form; there are small deaths and rebirths along the way. But in the end, what will prevail? Life itself. True Nature. Some people call this force “God” but I have come to know the numinous beyond religion, beyond cultural names, beyond symbols. So for me that name is too bound in literal interpretations. But whatever name you call the source of your spirit, the essence of all that is, don’t lose hope. You aren’t alone. You are part of something bigger and more eternal than you can even imagine. And the force of that is unstoppable in the grand scheme of cosmic time and beyond. 

But we are here and exist now. So it is our duty to resist and join our hearts to the true spirit of Life itself in defiance of hate, oppression, fear, and control.

So again, I compel you to create art and beauty in resistance to this cloud of fear that looms above us. In defiance of this illusion of hopelessness: write, act, tell great stories. Nurture that beauty and soul within you and others. To love and create art and truly live into authenticity will now be an act of powerful resistance. Take care of yourself and take care of each other. Tend to the earth, tend to the corner of nature that you steward. If you can reach beyond your immediate sphere, then do so. 

Now is the time to believe in all that you have ever held dear and embody it with your very life. That is how we will emerge victorious and stronger than ever. 

On our home planet, for every action, there is an equal and and opposite reaction. Let ours be of life, love, art, and beauty so much so that our light overwhelms the darkness. 

Don’t lose heart.