I’ve been having some uncomfortable thoughts.
Is it ethical to take money from a corrupt government? Does that signify complicity, if i have the ability to NOT? Is it ethical to vote? I plan to, though historically I have struggled with whether participation in any form is a waste of my energy.
It’s also abundantly clear that the current administration is incapable of telling anything close to the truth.
Is America going to look like Mad Max in a couple years?
How long is it going to take to create a society that is anywhere close to ethical?
How do we even begin to solve humanity’s crisis of humanity? Thus far my approach has been indirect. Cultivate spaces where love and acceptance are normal so that it can radiate outward.
And yet it is abundantly clear to me that these efforts may take generations to bear fruit.
Is it even ethical to take advantage of my ability to leave? Or do I have a responsibility in some way to stick it out and do *something* to make it better?
Mexico experienced 35,000 murders last year from cartel violence. This year may be worse.
China is set to become (if it is not already) the world’s next superpower, yet its human rights record (especially with regard to personal freedom) is atrocious.
Do I find a safe place to wait it all out? Or do I put myself more in the thick of it?
Be the change, they say.
I used to be certain about the change I wanted to make. About some things I am certain. The bigger things. Cultivating equity, deep listening, forgiveness, restoration.
Yet about which actions will lead to that I am no longer certain. Certainty is a comfortable feeling, and it’s tempting to retreat into that space, to control your input.
What I am feeling is that I must (and I believe all of us) learn to exist within uncertainty. To cultivate humility, to act with decisiveness, and yet to remain open to new information. To not remove myself entirely from the challenges of our world, and yet to find a place within it where I may create incremental shifts.
I used to want to burn it all down. Turns out that my contribution wasn’t even needed for that to happen. Where I used to believe I needed to think bigger, I now believe that it is of greater service to think smaller. Cultivate fewer relationships, but more impactful ones. Make less noise and take more meaningful action.
Clean up messes instead of expanding impact.
To leave an enduring legacy of love, because change and disruption is already upon us.
