"It's a Different Time"

People say that things never change, but this is the furthest from the truth. 

If you have done any healing work to heal your trauma, you know that healing works in cycles.  Trauma doesnt disappear, but you learn to heal it so it  has less of an affect on you.  You might still get triggered, then you feel bad for a while, but you get up again, each time it gets better, you don't react nearly as harshly you did before seeking treatment.  It takes time but eventually, you no longer lash out in anger, hatred and violence or shut down and become numb.

Its the same with society.  So much has changed in the past 400 years.  Black people were kidnapped from their home in Africa and thrown into slavery,  then the Civil war broke and eventually Lincoln emancipated slaves but he was shot before there was a plan to integrate black people into society.  That is when this country took a huge step backwards with the Jim Crowe segregation laws that kept blacks marginalized for 100 years.  

For a 100 years, black people did not have any rights!  

Then, in 1968,  Martin Luther King gave black people hope and the Civil Rights Movement was born.  Unfortunately, he was shot and and so was JFK and we took many a step backwards and forwards over the past 50 years...until Obama became president and he gave hope back to blacks and all of us who were ever marginalized.  Unfortunately, the current administration didnt do anything except undo every good thing Obama got passed in spite of the Republican congress.

Now, its like what Reverend Sharpton said yesterday at George Floyd's memorial service..., "Its a different time" he said.   During the Civil Rights Movement,  mostly black people were protesting,   now, there are people of all colors, ages taking to the streets in peaceful protest saying "No Justice, No  Peace."  There are people all over the world protesting for Justice.   They are coming to our aid.   

There are many more people in support of peace than against.

Yes, there is still police brutality as we see on the videos, but with technology, the truth can no longer be hidden.  We are not going to stop until the police officers are held accountable for their brutality....and "Qualified Immunity" is reformed.   After that, we will have to tackle the lax gun laws, another problem where change is hugely overdue.

So next time anyone says things never change, you can tell them they are wrong about that.

Black Lives Matter. All Lives Matter.

We were just getting ready to peak our heads out after months of being indoors because mother nature sent us to our rooms.   We had a chance to contemplate what we truly valued, we longed for connection, peace, meaning, purpose.   

We vowed to be aware of how our actions affected the planet, animals, trees, oceans, all of nature.  And we knew we didn't want to go back to the way things were, we were stressed,  we had no time for the important things in life, no time for our families, no time for our passions, no time for ourselves.  

We woke up and got a taste of what freedom really is.  Even though we were stuck in our homes, even though we were not free to go out and work, spend money, go to restaurants, see loved ones and travel, our minds were finally free, our spirits were finally free and we reconnected to ourselves, the one we have been most neglecting.   

But not all of us were in this boat. Not all of us were priviledged to have this luxury to stay home and contemplate our reality.   But we all, as human beings, should equally participate in this universe with mutual love and respect.  We are not ready to come out of our rooms.  

Because there are other lessons to be learned before we can go out into the world and declare a new beginning, a Renaissance, to create a future for our children, grandchildren and their's to come for generations.   

Because there are still parts inside that need to be healed.  There are still people who have not tasted the freedom we were tasting.   We can't even pretend to care about nature when we, as humans, don't see other humans as our our brothers and sisters.   

We can no longer turn away from the senseless killing of innocent lives that matter.   

Black lives matter.  Black lives shaped the fabric of who we are as American people,  so much of our beautiful culture is black.  When are we going to embrace our blackness?  Now, it is time.  

And while we are at it,  when are we going to embrace all the ethnic diversity that makes this great country so great?   Hispanics, Asians, indigenous people, Jews, Muslims, Christians,  Buddhists, Hindus, Athiests and so many more.  Because this diversity of ethnic culture is who we are, we all shaped the fabric of America. And we are all the reason why America is so great.  

There is room in America for every person of every color and creed to live out their dreams, with access to education, health care, shelter, protection, clean water, clean air, clean food.   When are we going to wake up to the fact that we all matter?  

And women of every color, we are actually the majority of the population!  Why have we accepted this?  We have all been bullied into believing we are not worthy.  But it doesn't help to accuse the minority of little white men with little white hearts, who only feel big when they dominate everyone else, because even they deserve love.  

But read this.  They are not the majority.  The majority are us good people.   Its time we come together and love each other and love ourselves and yes, even love our abusers who didn't get any love from their fathers and mothers.  We are so strong together.  We got this.