The Head... the Heart... and Politics

I find the times we’re in so interesting… one moment celebrating… the next gnashing my teeth in despair… and barely anything between… Overall, it’s exciting… Things are on the move…

For so long, the heart has basically been sidelined when it comes to decision making… It’s laughed off as weak… stupid… not practical… too feminine… And yet… many of us desire a world where love is the underlying law… where people treat each other with a sense of respect… and with dignity… The heart knows these things well… and beneath that hard protective armor most of us have developed… we want what the heart wants… don’t we?

This being said… how do we expect to get there exactly… to the world of which our heart dreams… if we refuse to acknowledge it?... To follow it?... We are presented with opportunities all the time… where the heart says “Yes! Yes! Yes!”… We feel the excitement… the hope… the possibility for something different… then the head bursts in… reminding us of past experiences… of all the things that may happen… things of which we should be afraid… And the heart slowly fades into the background… once again, unheard… disrespected… not given the dignity it deserves…

Without the heart to guide it… the mind creates a world in response to fear… With the heart guiding… the mind creates a world much different… a world based in hope… respect… dignity… a world supporting opportunities for all… while simultaneously encouraging each of us to share what we uniquely have to offer…

It’s interesting… because this battle between head and heart has come to the forefront… Check out the “talking heads” following the political campaigns… debates… town hall meetings… They’re even talking about the head and the heart… One candidate is the heart’s choice… the other, the mind’s… and I’ve found this to be true…

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog I didn’t post… It was on my own dilemma between the head and the heart… At that time… one candidate definitely had my heart… the other, my mind… My mind was logical… rational… and fearful… What if the candidate of my heart can’t win the general election, then what?...

I decided at that time… it was time for me to put my vote where my heart is… If I desire a different world… then I have to choose differently… in everyday life… in politics… in everything… And if there’s one thing I’m certain… at least for me… it’s the heart’s time, baby!... And I’m excited about it. J

Much love,

Karrie  

I don't even know where to begin...

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

I don't even know where to begin...

Shall I begin with Indiana’s new law?  The one which legalizes discrimination of gays and lesbians?  Or shall I begin with a proposed ballot initiative – “Kill the Gays” - in California that has qualified for signature collecting?  Or maybe I could continue with the horrors of racism still bubbling to the surface?

Two things are coming to mind for me… both from the Declaration of Independence…

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

and

“…accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

When exactly is enough actually ENOUGH?  When will we actually reach a point where evils are no longer sufferable?  When will freedom and equality truly be the foundation of America… and not just a legend we some share with their grandchildren?

I support these founding principles whole-heartedly… and may very well give my life for them if “Kill the Gays” actually makes the ballot and passes.  However, there is a line that must be drawn which cannot be crossed without consequences… and when this line is violated… via discrimination of any type… we cannot stand idly by.  Consciousness must take a stand.  It’s time.  For the sake of the “Land of the Free”… it’s time.

Quite frankly, I’m tired of “religious freedom” being used as a permission slip to bully others who believe differently.  I support “religious freedom” as in each of us has the right to worship as we feel called… but “religious freedom” is no greater than any other personal freedom… “Religious freedom” doesn’t trump my freedom to be “me”… and quite frankly, I’m no longer willing to pretend it does. And to go one step further… I will say this: I know God just as well as any other… and I’m no longer willing to give that power away, either.

For me, God is freedom… God is equality.  God is every perspective counts.  And as far as “religion” goes… this is as “high” as it gets.  In fact, this is the One that trumps all others… This is the One that allows all others. 

I have reached a point where my love for freedom and equality… my love for myself… is greater than my fear of being harmed.  I am willing to take a stand for something different.  I am willing to support the freedom and equality of those I can’t stand… those whose beliefs I may find reprehensible… AND I’m willing to take a stand for my own.  I may not carry any material weapons… but my big hug and kiss can be just as powerful.

United We Stand.  Divided We Fall.  It’s time.

Much love,

Karrie

Love does what love does...

Saturday, November 29, 2014

For the last few months, I feel like I’ve been in a state of silence.  I watch the world around me – especially the political realm – and I only feel frustration.  I’d like to help… I’d like to be able to assist our representatives in moving beyond the stalemate… the rock throwing… the complaining… the blaming… the unwillingness to create something new… I listen to the President speak… and I feel his frustration… almost begging Congress to do something… yet to no avail… as it’s still more acceptable to complain and throw rocks… than it is to work together creating solutions… I find this frustrating… as well as depressing… Honestly, I’m not sure they know how to transcend the patterning… Perhaps many of our representatives would really like to be a part of something different… but have no idea how to make it happen?…

This morning, I realized that there’s really only one transformative force… and that’s love.  Perhaps, it’s too many Hallmark movies (tis the season!)… but the message is clear… when it comes to moving hardened hearts… or softening blockages between souls… love is the only answer.  Nothing can withstand the force of love… There’s nothing more persevering… more tenacious… more irresistible… more healing… than love... And anything that love has a hand in… is always spectacular!

I also realize… that love is uncontrollable… What happens… what it brings about… is beyond my control… Love does what love does… and whatever it does… is always in alignment with love… So perhaps I can calm my anxiousness… and feel like I’m doing something… by lighting up the ethers with love… no strings attached… Trusting… knowing… that love is going to do what love does… and there’s nothing better than that.

Much love,

Karrie  

In regard to ISIS...

A couple of years ago, I had a phenomenal healing experience as I was out for a walk in my neighborhood.  In fact, I had left the house because the energy I was feeling was so intense…and I really wanted to relieve myself of it.  The intense discomfort I was experiencing had a lot to do with my own suppression of that which I really didn’t want to feel.  However, as those on a “healing” path know, the acknowledgment and release of these things we’ve buried – whether things we don’t want to remember or our own dark feelings we don’t want to own – is vitally important.  Well… I was feeling some things coming to the surface… and part of me was panicking… attempting to push them down… while the rest of me was ready to acknowledge and release… ready for “healing”.

As I walked in this rather intense emotional state, I asked for help… I asked for assistance in releasing whatever it was that needed to be released.  It wasn’t long after my request that I felt – and saw in my mind’s eye – an energy force separate from me… It was still tethered to me… but I could see it… and feel it… as if it were separate.  Anyway, it was beyond-words-ugly.  It was so ugly I couldn't look at it.  In my mind, I was thinking “OMG, what am I going to do?!... I can’t take that energy back!”  Yet I knew as long as it was attached to me, I couldn’t release it.  Suddenly, I turned to it and I said “I’m so sorry.  Please forgive me.  I love you.  Thank you.”  I repeated this prayer several times… and felt the angst of the energy release until the “ugly” finally dissipated… and what was left was a little girl… me, as a little girl.  It was a phenomenal experience.  And what I learned from this was that anytime I have the feeling of suppressing something… something that’s attempting to be “seen”… I call it up… claim it… and use this very same prayer.

This morning, it occurred to me that the group ISIS which is terrorizing Iraq is a similar representation.  ISIS is something most of us would like to very much suppress… and not acknowledge even exists.  However, it came to me that in the same way that Marianne Williamson suggested holding ISIS in the light and love of Consciousness… we could go even deeper… to the root… using the Ho’oponopono Prayer… “I’m sorry.  Please forgive me.  I love you.  Thank you.” with the intent of supporting a much desired healing. 

There are times when physical force (more masculine in nature) may be necessary… and there are times when the more nurturing force of love (the more feminine) is necessary.  And in many cases – if not all - it’s a both/and.  There is no contradiction.  And for those not called to participate in physical force, we can most certainly assist by calling on – and applying – the love and forgiveness of the feminine which goes to the core of Humanity’s being…  

Today, I sit in the healing energy of this prayer… claiming all that I am… loving all that I am… shadows and all.

Much love,

Karrie

Releasing the Dominate Culture

I’ve been feeling an underlying depression for a while now.  At times I experience sadness… and grief… a very deep grief.  At other times, I feel angry and frustrated… wanting to strike out.  This morning I decided to really feel into these emotions and sensations… I wanted to know where they were coming from… What is it I’m grieving?  As I allowed myself to feel… it became very clear that what I am experiencing is in response to death… Something inside me has died…

As I delved into my feelings… I began to realize that the pain… the depression… the grief… is related to my release of what I refer to as the False Façade… the man-made illusion of rules… regulations… obligations… and expectations… My connection to this dominating illusion has died… and I’m grieving it.

Frankly, I was shocked by this recognition as well as the depth of emotion I was feeling… Internally, I was sobbing… the type of sobs which accompany deep loss… and letting go. I was shocked by what I was experiencing… because I’ve been consciously separating from the “traditional” for quite some time… Railing against it due to its narrowness… Its exclusiveness… and because I no longer fit in… I’m excluded from its membership… no longer acceptable because of who I am… I’m not a member of the “dominate culture”… and to my tremendous surprise, at a very deep level I’m grieving the loss of my connection to it. 

As a child, the “dominant culture” was my “home”… It was what I knew… It was where I played… felt safe… The structure of the “dominant culture” was something with which I was familiar… and therefore, it felt secure.  Somewhere along the line, however – and to my unconscious as well as conscious horror – my “membership” began to unravel… I didn’t belong to this culture… and I wasn’t accepted by it either… I became more and more conscious that I no longer could support the culture I grew up in as the “dominant culture.”  I became aware that the world – and America – was made up of lots and lots and lots of people who didn’t fit this “dominant culture” either… and who also had unalienable rights to their Life… Liberty… and pursuit of Happiness…   

As I step back and look at what I’ve written… what I’m really saying… I can see – and more compassionately understand - what’s happening in America today… and why there’s so much angst… particularly politically, where one party doggedly perseveres to represent the dissipating “dominant culture”… doing what it can to hold onto what it had, “by any means necessary.”  What’s happening is what used to be the “dominant culture” is losing its place as “dominant”… and those who are attached to this culture feel like something is being taken away from them… and they’re afraid they will lose their rights to live how they want to live… In some ways, they believe they’re fighting to survive… not realizing that other cultures also want their right to exist… a right they/we have had to fight for… When in reality, under an enormous umbrella of freedom and equality… all cultures have the right to exist… but not the right to dominate…

So today, I acknowledge… accept… and honor the grief I feel.  I honor and release the “dominant culture” from which I came… and begin to honor and claim a new culture… a culture that claims us all.

Much love,

Karrie

Heartbreaking...

I feel heart-sick today… I went to bed last night feeling a deep sadness, a sense of hopelessness… wondering if we as Americans (or even as humans) will ever get it together.  I saw a picture on Facebook of the President interacting with his dog… Unfortunately, I made the erroneous choice of looking at the comments from people.  I’ve made the same mistake before.  I’m sure some of you have as well.  The hatred… the blatant racist remarks… the misrepresentation and misuse of God… is heartbreaking… I have no other way of describing it.  It’s heartbreaking.

I realize that arguing… debating… attempting to convince… trying to make a point… is many times fruitless.  It doesn’t matter anymore what someone has to say in conversation with a person of an opposing viewpoint – no one wants to hear it.  Each person believes they’re right and that they’re in a battle for their own survival. 

We are so used to a “survival of the fittest” mentality in a world where only “winners” are respected that we believe we have to “win” some imaginary battle of philosophies or face extinction ourselves.  We totally miss the boat when it comes to an understanding of freedom… and equality.

The beauty, uniqueness and divine nature of the essence of America is found in the understanding that the umbrella of freedom and equality… is all-inclusive… Everyone is included… every person… ethnicity… religion… gender… sexual orientation… language… philosophy…etc …is included beneath this infinite umbrella.  And when we truly understand this… a dominant culture does not exist.  All “cultures” are respected and none dominate.  This in truth is the essence of America.

The transition from a “survival of the fittest”… “dominate culture rules” mentality… to one more in alignment with America’s essence includes things like acceptance… respect… co-existence… acknowledgment… co-creativity… coming from a sense of the whole… rather than only a part of the whole… sharing to be understood… listening to understand… as well as a deeper understanding of the ideals the United States of America was founded upon. 

This transition is not for the weak of heart.  It’s for the courageous… the persevering… the resilient… the determined.  It’s not about beating each other up so one way dominates all others… but instead, finding the way that allows everyone their own unique existence.  

   

I realize that much of my sadness can be attributed to the constant infighting… the “war”… the immaturity… the attacks… the revenge… the hatred… the rudeness… and the disrespect… all that which fuels a never ending cycle of destruction.  And I’m sad because I realize how ridiculous it is to fight over our differences… when we live in a nation founded in freedom.

Much love,

Karrie

Looking for the Humor...

Monday, June 30, 2014

This afternoon I left my home in order to run a few errands.  I planned a route that in my mind was the most efficient… and was making note of my brilliance as I pulled into stop #1 – the recycling kiosk.  Just as I got out of my car, the young man in the kiosk, yelled “Sir, I’m going on my 30 minute break after I assist this person.”  First of all, it’s 95 degrees… and I’m menopausal… Just opening my car door started “Niagra Falls”… and Niagra Falls is accompanied by a rather snarky temper!  Second, are you kidding me?  The last time I came to this particular recycling center, the young man in-charge told me the same thing – he couldn’t help me because he was going on his lunch break!  What are the chances?... and third, “Sir?!”…

Now, if I were of the masculine persuasion, I just might have used this opportunity to jump out of my monster truck with the oversized wheels… rip off my shirt… flex my enormous biceps… and smack the guy… Instead, I gave my best “Are you kidding me?” look… accentuated by a visible heaving huff… and climbed back into my 1999 Honda Accord!  And as I drove away… I threw a mental tantrum…vowing in some way to get even… by taking my business elsewhere (like he cared!)… all the while making my case with the part of me which was rolling its eyes at my ridiculousness.

Anyway, I drove down the road to another recycling center.  As I got out of my car, the man said, “I’m going on my lunch break.  I’ll be back in 30 minutes.”  To which I replied, (I had made the mistake of getting out of my car… heat… menopause… snarky temper!) “Really?!  The guy down the road told me the same thing!” and I got back in my car, obviously displeased.  I felt like a “donkey” when the (really nice) man came over and gave me directions to another center.  When I asked why I should go there, since the operator at the next site would most likely be on his lunch break as well (Obviously, Temperamental Tina was still my spokesperson), he told me that the operator at the next stop had already taken his break.”

So… off I went.  By this time, I was still feeling a little snarky, however, the more mature part of me was gaining a little ground.  After all, I am a former union representative as well as an understanding human being… I know how important the 30 minute break is to people.  When I reached the location of the 3^rd site… there was no center to be found.  I circled the area for several minutes before heading to my partner’s office to drop something off.  I shared my experiences and she shared the location of a 4^th site which I could try.  (By the way, the “sainthood” for which I was going to nominate the nice man at stop #2 was promptly pulled.)

As I drove into the parking lot of site #4, I noticed it was definitely not open.  The sign said, “Closed on Mondays”.  Of course.  I thought I might be able to use the automated redemption “thingy” but it wouldn’t take crunched up bottles.  (My partner has been pushing everyone in the house to crunch up their bottles to save room.  Of course.)

So… It had now been over an hour (so much for my brilliant plan of efficiency) and I’m headed back to site #1.  (I was sure the young man operating the center was not only back from his lunch break but well warmed up with the other customers he has helped since I squealed my 1999 Honda out of the parking lot!)  I finally decided it was time to make the best of it… so I basked in the sun…whistling “Every day’s a Holiday” (from Mary Poppins)… while waiting for the 2 customers ahead of me to turn in their bottles.  As I moved closer to the kiosk, I noticed the sign clearly stating the employee’s lunch break and made a mental note.  (I hate it when I have to eat “recycled crow”.)  The young man obviously didn’t remember the “Sir” he turned away… and was very polite and helpful.  In the end, we exchanged a smile… and I got my $11.  As I drove away I thought… "I can see the humor in this"… and that deserves an ice cream cone.

Much love,

Karrie