I had a dream about my spirit being bruised recently, it was literally black & blue all over, and there were actually two spirits. Their eyes were windows to the Earthly world. Amazing images for me.
On Saturday, at Cycles, my upper back pain started surfacing. I started feeling like a big ole bear who had been shot in the right shoulder, heading to the river to cool it down. Still strong but wounded.
I'm realizing how much suffering, violence and injustice there is right in my own community, home and heart. I don't need to go to gaza or Africa, or a sweat shop in NYC to find these human actions. We all participate, we all tell lies to ourselves and each other, we all think we're better than Bush and we're really playing the same game, trying to get what we want and willing to hurt others and ourselves to get it.
Sometimes we hurt each other and ourselves by simply contributing to an innacurate perception of a person, making them out to be a rebel or a person who has difficulty with authority (this is a social problem for people of color, esp. black men), or we make ourselves out to be something we are not, it may be as simple as puffing ourselves up (like a pufferfish). We all do it. And, for good reason, we all want to survive those bigger fish and be our biggest best self in this lifetime.
I think the challenge is in our response to perception. Something Vinn Marti said last month has stuck with me "Purpose resides in accuracy of perception and appropriateness of response." To constantly ask ourselves, do I need to puff up right now, what is an appropriate response given the perception I have, and how accurate is that perception truly?
I'm finding that the more I contribute to an accurate perception, an accurate perception of myself and those around me, the clearer the purpose becomes, and the clearer the purpose of the community as a whole becomes. My response is to move toward this accurate perception and clarity of purpose.
