Yo ho ho! I Know What You're Afraid Of
Yes, I didn’t meet my deadline this week. No CANDiGRAM video for you today, just a blog post, and a late one at that. I have decided my policy of releasing content every Tuesday (video one week, blog the next) is unrealistic, and counterproductive in that it leads to me rushing. More than that, it brought me to an insight…
Though I talk the talk of, “Don’t see fulfilment as something that is away over the horizon in some unseeable future,” I found myself in the past few weeks walking the walk of, “I need to compromise my today in the hope of achieving a fulfilling tomorrow.” In other words I lost sight of an approach to life that means a lot to me...If I wish to promote the idea that we are perfect, in and of ourselves, right here and right now (and I do), and that life itself is perfect, in and of itself, right here and right now (and I do), then all that remains is for me to simply embody that, right here and right now.
But somehow or other I let CANDiGRAM become a pressure! I researched the marketing strategies of successful bloggers (a valuable thing to do) and then, inevitably perhaps, needed to dance the dance of losing myself for a while in that dreaded routine of “following the formula to success.”
The fun quickly goes.
And that’s no fun for anybody.
It is a funny thing though – this paradox I play with: I say that all is perfect, and yet all of my energies and activities seem to be focussed on changing things! As I think about it this moment I feel I put things in the wrong order. Each day I pretty much began with
“What am I going to do today to be most efficient in bringing
about change so that I can then enjoy loving life?”
Swap those babies around and I can feel the release and the relief of that pressure…
“Ahh, yes! Another day of loving me and my life here with all of this!
Nothing to be done but whatever I choose to do.
What will I love doing the most today?”
That is the future life I wish for myself in those times when I forget that I don’t believe in the future. If that attitude to life is what I wish for myself then it is only fitting that I become one of those “happy fools” who gifts it to himself, right here and right now. It doesn’t make sense not to. And if the realistic people of the world decide to write my obituary like this: “He was a fool all his days, but a happy one,” then I guess that would mean I did pretty well.
I feel a tension within myself when faced with all of the differing and contrasting ways of being that the human race presents. The political activists have a powerful voice, because they are so passionate in their belief in injustice. And yet their numbers are comparatively small, and even amongst themselves they can find it difficult to agree. Then there are the passive masses: as a newcomer to pinterest (I’ve started building a pinterest board of changemakers) I have to admit that I have been surprised and dismayed by just how very many pinterest users put together fashion, beauty, fitness and interior design boards. There’s nothing wrong with any of those interests of course, but when I observe the number of people who don’t seem to have generated any other interests that they deem worthy of creating a board for I find myself pulled up short: The human race is killing itself and here are countless people who do not wish to look beyond their search for the most exciting new nail varnish or recipe!
The movement to save the human race from itself is big, incorporating millions of active members. It’s a big movement, a powerful movement, and it wields considerable influence. And yet it is also small, compared to the billions of people who do not see themselves as part of it, because they are either too concerned with the daily struggle of surviving their poverty, or too preoccupied with what new consumer products are available right now.
How many people beyond my bubble of changemakers (and even inside it) would get my approach? Ardent political activists, and changemakers focussed on nurturing “systemic changes” in society, may say that my own focus on love activism is hopelessly weak, ineffective and doomed to be nothing more than a distraction from the real work that is required.
In his book, The Establisment – And how they get away with it, Owen Jones talks about the Overton Window: the political norm that is promoted by the Elite as being the centre of sane and acceptable political belief, and how, over time, this window of acceptable political thought is gradually moved more and more to the right so that any ideas that lie to the left of it, such as state legislation that ensures a decent standard of living for the poor, is increasingly considered extremist, unrealistic and impossible. The Elite have developed their skill in shepherding public opinion in this way to such a high degree that millions upon millions of people consistently vote against their own interests and the interests of life on this planet.
What hope then is there for a person like myself, whose political idealogy revolves around the concept of love? My answer to the challenges faced by human society falls so far to the left of the Overton Window that the shepherded millions can only shake their heads in bemused dismissal at the sheer craziness of it… This poor hippy guy is so out of touch with reality that he thinks all we need to do is learn to love ourselves and each other!
Yes. That is exactly what I believe. And yes, even people who see themselves as having radical socialistic beliefs will dismiss my ideas as being unrealistic to the point of pure fantasy.
Love, indeed? Better step aside, my boy, and let the adults who know what they’re talking about deal with these grown-up issues.
And so, even dear friends of mine, who I know believe in social justice, in providing care for those who are vulnerable, whether that be due to poverty, age, disability, mental health or whatever, will still talk to me about what is realistic. They see how effective the Elites’ strategies have become...for the Elite. They are somewhat in awe of the seeming power of the Elite. Fire should be fought with fire. Weapons should be fought with weapons. Politics should be fought with politics. Hatred should be hated and aggression should be fought aggressively.
The Elite shepherds have herded you into their mindset.
If you believe that you must fight for the cause of love then you have suffered from such a lack of love that you really don’t understand what it is. Your fighting for love leads you further and further away from it.
The fear-driven ego loves to fight for love. Look! I love love so much I am fighting for it!
It’s like putting chemicals in a river to try and destroy the pollution in it.
And this is the insanity that the Overton Window presents as sanity, and which you fear to step to the left of, because you feel safer in a big tough gang than you do in a small, loving family.
Love Activism means nothing more than loving yourself and loving everybody else. If that feels weak and ineffective to you then you simply don’t understand what it means. If the idea of taking that step feels scary to you that is only because you are TERRIFIED!
And being terrified makes you extremely susceptible to being herded.
People fight because they are afraid. The human race poisons itself and the planet because it is afraid. If my talk of love being the answer to all of this seems ridiculously ineffective to you it is because you are afraid.
My suggestion to you is this: Do the most terrifying thing in the world – love yourself and everybody else. Do it despite the terror. Start with Love Activism. Start with love, rather than seeing it as a destination you would one day like to reach. Start with love. And from there you can go ahead and do as you please, whether that be political activism or making pinterest boards about interior design – because then you will be doing those things from a place of love, and that will make all of the difference in the world.
If we do not provide the rest of society with role models of love then the end of this human race will be long and painful and this is the supreme irony of fear: we bring to us the very thing that we are afraid of. How many days do you have left on this planet? Spend every single one of them in love. Do that, and then, on your last day, tell me how weak and ineffective you were.
Anyway, that’s what’s going on with me. I suspect my videos and blogs will be a lot more enjoyable if I’m walking my talk, rather than straining to get there.
I’ve added some great CANDiLINKS this week. I’d especially like to recommend a couple of them. Firstly, a TED Talk that showed me some stuff on the bottom of the ocean that is just...so...remarkable! If you enjoy being awestruck by the natural world then follow the LINK. Secondly, a wee film about the making of a book, a book of photography. Doesn’t sound interesting to you? The artist involved can take 5 months hand-making the elements needed for one single photograph. If you enjoy being awestruck by the creativity that humans are capable of then follow the LINK.
Lots of love
x
