Sometimes putting pen to paper comes with great ease and at other points, it can be quite challenging. This has been one of those seasons where the metaphorical pen well has often run dry. But as of late, I have been reflecting on recent lessons learned and how to codify my thoughts in a blog like this. I thought of many things, but what seemed to flourish for me is the insights gained from 2023.
In the United States, in this season, we have experienced defining legislation limiting the rights of many. We have seen diversity and inclusion weaponized to formulate factions, division and incubate fear. At the same time, we have also seen communities coalesce and move with solidarity toward the goal of our collective freedom.
Last summer, I joined millions of Americans in the tradition of celebrating the Fourth of July -a time marked in this region of the world for independence – represented by BBQs with friends and loved ones – and fireworks to close the day. Now, I see Independence Day not as a celebration of history, but rather a hope for the promise in tomorrow.
In the book, A Course in Miracles, love is spoken as not the opposite of hate, but the opposite of fear. The thought-leader Dr. Brené Brown writes that the only way to combat hate is through connection. With those two truths in mind, perhaps in this season of Independence, we would all benefit from a reflection on the spaces where fear and hate reside – first within us, and then in the communities we are part.
Fear internally, for me manifest most often when I am looking in spaces other than myself for joy, for peace, for acceptance. The fear surfaces when I give the power of my joy, my peace, and my acceptance to people (and communities) that were never destined to hold that authority. Hate is hard to carry when seen up close, and in this season, I take pause to ask “how” more than “why” to answer that great call offered by Brown. Asking the question of how is one’s fear developed, rather than why. Asking how did one decide to hate, or desire to diminish the voice and power of another rather than why. With the question “how” I seek to get at that illustrious virtue known as empathy.
Empathy for me is one of the keys to my freedom, which in my view (freedom) is the keystone of Independence. So, in this moment of reflection on the year recently passed, or as I share the pain of millions facing up to the harsh winter storms in recent weeks, I continue to seek freedom, liberation, and independence not just for the United States of America, but for the citizen whose care I have been entrusted most: ME.