WHAT’S IN THIS POST FOR YOU:
You will enjoy a 14 minute, multi-media journey through Humanity’s Shadow AND Light. Your soul’s capacity to hold this creative tension–at the very heart of Life–will mature, will strengthen. You will become more effective in your mission.
- I zero in on why you must strengthen your soul’s capacity to hold both the Shadow and Light, in these cataclysmic times (1 min)
- Then we hold the Shadow = a dramatic reading from Frederick Douglas (a slave) on July 4, 1852 (6 mins)
- Then we hold the Light = extraordinary music “We Are One” by Seay (6 mins)
- I conclude with practical tips for how I hold the shadow and the Light (1 min)
ONE: Why Hold Both Shadow & Light?
Our soul’s capacity to “hold” both the shadow AND the light, in these dangerous times, is a foundational skill. This capacity is essential for us to midwife any potential — for ourselves, our loved ones, our communities, our nation, humanity, all Life, and for the Earth itself.
What I mean by “hold” is this: to take in, to stay present with, to see the validity of, to feel moved by, to join together in one whole, to unify, to allow strong feelings (whether you label them as “negative” or “positive”).
Your capacity to “hold” means that you will probably be moved into sacred, social activism, or your mission, by either pole of this creative tension (by either the shadow or the light). It means that your sacred work will include both perspectives, both “truths” in the proper proportion. It means that you will unify this polarity.
TWO: Hold this Shadow/Darkness
Hold this Shadow: you are about to hear a slave, Frederick Douglass commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 5, 1852: “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” And he asked them, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?
Feel if you can “hold” this exposure of our Nation’s Shadow. Sense if you can “stay present” while you hear his biting outcry. Experience if you can “stay present” as you realize the profound parallels with us today — July 2019. See if you can feel this deeply, yet not go into despair or hopelessness.
THREE: Hold this Light/Hope.
Hold this Light: you are about to listen to an extraordinary song — We Are One, by Seay. You get the additional pleasure of watching the inspiring visuals in her video.
Sense if you can “stay present” while you hear her vision. Experience if you can “stay present” as you realize the profound gap between this song’s truth and our reality in the world 2019. See if you can feel this deeply, yet not go into a spiritual bypass (lose sight of the Shadow, above)
FOUR: Practical Tips
I let myself cry when I hear Frederick Douglass.
I let myself soar when I hear Seay.
Do your inner work so you can feel, Feel, FEEL.
For these cataclysmic times, you need a deeply cultivated, daily practice — to continuously re-balance, re-set, re-wire, re-new.
This daily practice must include both meditation and embodiment practices (dance, yoga, exercise, walking, Nature, etc).
P.S. Here’s a haiku I wrote for all this:
Behold the garden–
Whisper of morning blossom–
Blooming with Darkness