When you turn on the news do you like what you see?
When you talk to your neighbor do you like what they have to say? These days, so many people think that our world is circling the drain. How did we get here and how can we change this? The answer is so appallingly simple and so difficult at the same time. On A Personal Note This last weekend has been a trying time. If you follow this blog you know that I'm in midst of a high risk pregnancy that limits me to staying downstairs in my two-story house and keeps me from doing any extended walking (the most walking I do is to take the dogs outside to go potty) or chores (I can't do any lifting or bending...not even emptying the dishwasher). I'm currently at 18 weeks which is a celebration as it is about half way to when I will have my c-section done (week 36 or 37- the last week of July or first week of August). Add to that this week, Wednesday, is the anniversary of the birth and death of my daughter Lilith-Ann. She was born at 23 weeks and passed three days after her birth. So, this is always a difficult time for me. Then last week my mother was in a terrible car accident. She has emphysema and as a result of the accident when the air bag deployed it caught on fire. So, she breathed in a bunch of toxic fumes that really made her sick. She also had four broken ribs. On Friday morning my husband was woken up by a phone call informing us that she had been put on life support. My husband and I went straight to the hospital. I was thinking I was going to have to say goodbye. Dad didn't think she was going to wake up. He knew that she had been sedated. An old doctor had him convinced hat if my mother ever ended up on a breathing tube she would never get off of it and my father thought that the machine was doing all of the breathing for her. However, that wasn't the case. While I was there she woke up and as of today the breathing tube has been removed. Yeah, it's been an interesting week already. What got me, though, when I was at the hospital was that my father admitted something to me that I never imagined he'd say. He told me, "You know your sister is just like me. I can't handle my emotions. I channel it all into anger and I just explode." I was stunned for him to tell me this so flatly. Consequently, I realized my entire family has this same problem. Since my Dad can't handle any emotion besides anger everyone in the family has had to repress their emotions. I realized it, but not so bluntly, years ago when I was examining memories from my childhood. A dog of mine had died and I was a hysterical mess. My Dad took me by the back of my neck and forced me to look into the hole where he'd put the dog that had been shot in the had telling me, "Look, he's dead. He's never going to come back so stop crying for him." I learned that day tears were not acceptable in my household. Even more experiences enhanced the fact that I was allowed to be Angry or Happy but nothing else. This expressed itself in huge temper tantrums...as that was the only emotion I was allowed to feel I expressed it like none other. Even this, however, was not tolerated in my family. Anger was only okay as long as it wasn't directed at anyone in the family or as long as it didn't affect anyone in our family. I have since dealt with these issues. I've confronted them and I have forgiven my father. He is the product of a very violent and unpredictable household. For some reason, when he admitted this issue...I saw him and my entire family differently. I saw how emotionally repressed the environment always was...how my sister is an exact reproduction of my father. I know that my brother simply shuts down in emotional situations because it's the safest way to cope and that this is how my mother used to behave. I find it very sad. I no longer feel they are an obstacle that I need to overcome or somehow change. I realize each of them must make the personal choice to work with their emotions or continue as they have been which is perfectly 'normal' for them. I find it highly unlikely that they will make that choice. I'm the oddball who changed which is what makes them uncomfortable but it's vital that I continue to be that example of how a healthy person behaves. Yeah, I admit, a part of me feels that the change I've experienced won't have much effect on their entrenched emotional habits but what matters is I've found peace and I don't think I could return to that way of being even if I wanted. Yet, I believe that it is my duty as a soul to continue to be an example. Finding Freedom My Dad admitted his problem, however, he said it more as an excuse. As though, because I know he is that way, I should just accept it. I should accommodate him and his unhealthy habit. Just as I don't criticize him smoking because I know it will fall on deaf ears (even when it's around my mother but she has chosen to stay with him even as he shows blatant disregard for her health). I see this as a huge missed opportunity. With the help of my husband, Ross, in the last four yeas I've purged myself of those old negative beliefs and emotional habits. Ross is strong enough that when I cry he holds me and let's me get all of it out. I no longer see crying as a huge vulnerability and weakness but as one of my greatest strengths to release my emotions. Working with emotions, as I pointed out in my Sacral Chakra and Solar Plexus Chakra videoes, is vital to be a healthy human being. Further, our intuition comes in the form of emotions. That is the primary form of communication from our Higher Soul Self directing us in life. When we have a situation similar to a past life where we must make a choice...being in touch and understanding the communication of our emotions is vital. Toxic My family is not unique. I know many families that are the same way and many people who repress their emotions. In the spiritual community these are the people who are labeled as toxic. They poison their entire family and frienships with this misunderstanding about emotions. Yet, the home environment isn't the only place that insists that people act like emotionless robots. * Schools. Schools are the same way. If you express your emotions in school, especially anger it will put you on that path of being removed from the general public and placed in a continuation school among even worse influences which leads a lot of people going to jail. * Work. There is no place for emotions in the workplace. A customer can scream, yell and do everything short of cuss or threaten your life...and you're expected to be nice, courteous and 'professional.' Crying or defending yourself is considered 'unproffessioal.' Our society itself, then, as these are the two main institutions that people participate in is Toxic. Yes, knowing that you have a toxic relative or friend can really help. For a time, on your spiritual path you're going to have to cut them out of your life so you can have a drama-free sacred space in which to heal. Yet, they know not what they do and at some point you'll have to reach the next stage of self-transformation... Forgiveness This takes us to what I'm going to cover in my next YouTube video. In this weeks video I'm going to cover The Heart Chakra. You might think...Well, Bridget, isn't the heart all about Love? Yes, in many ways it is...but the ultimate form of love is Forgiveness. We can only experience unconditional love for other people when we can forgive them for all of the wrongs they have done to us. Yes, it's easy to hold onto all of those things. Yes, it does help when you can rationally understand why someone would do the crazy things that they do...but 99% of the time people don't know why they do what they do. They just say, "This behavior is me- take it or or leave it." When an entire society operates on a toxic belief system how can you judge someone for being among the social norm? That it is normal doesn't make it right or healthy...but generally speaking that's how Group Think works. Hope I know as a personal fact that a person can change...they can change how they think and they can change their behaviors. The story of AA is fascinating. A man reached out to Carl Jung because he had a huge drinking problem and he knew he was on the path to an early grave. He asked Carl Jung what he could do and Carl told him that only an act of God could help him...That's why believing in a Higher Power is so important in the AA...but that man went on to give up drinking and created an organization with two of his friends that saved and transformed countless other lives. I have changed myself. People might see me as the child or person they knew...but I'm not that person with that history. That's an old narrative. To me it's like a Past Life and I don't associate myself with it anymore. I am utterly reborn and this is utterly a new life. That gives me hope that society can change. That we can start working with emotions. School is a fantastic opportunity to start teaching kids healthy coping mechanisms. To start teaching them that emotions are okay, how they work and how to express them in a healthy way. We could change entire communities with this information and it would be something kids would enjoy learning. Conclusion I look at society and I see that we are...as a whole world- toxic. This is not new or isolated in the time that we live in...it stretches back into thousands of years in our past. The toxic inability of dealing with our human nature- which is primarily our emotions- is poisoning the very environment of the planet we live on. Yet, there is a huge Awakening to this phenomenon. A huge amount of people who have decided to challenge what society accepts as 'normal.' We are waking up from our slumber and the denial of our emotions and intuition. We are being called to create a new 'normal.' We must, reconnect with our emotions to save this planet and reconnect with our spirituality. We must, on a personal level learn how to work with our emotions to achieve this because it will be a personal choice for every individual. Society cannot force you to change your behavior. We must, on a relationship level learn how to give and receive affection. We must, on a the level of our Heart forgive the injustices of the past and let them go in order for those old patterns to be replaced with the new. Political Correctness derived from hate or competition for resources and Participation Awards are not going to achieve this goal people. Punishing races because of the evils of their forefathers is not going to achieve this either. (I don't know a single white person who doesn't wish we could go back in time and turn those slave ships around sending them back to Africa. I don't know a single white person who doesn't wish that the Indigenous genocide didn't happen. Yet, we can't go into the past and fix those things...we are here now in this situation as it is...and I pray to the One Creator that the other races will start forgiving the white race for their ancestors (technically some of my ancestors are Indigenous so I can't include them in this generalization). Mental health awareness- teaching adults and children the appropriate coping skills and how to work with emotions- will achieve this goal. All of this information has always been out there. This information has always been available to anyone who goes on an inward journey of self-discovery and transformation. We need every single person on this planet capable of learning this to do so...to serve as an example to everyone else...and transform this planet. This isn't magical nonsense. This is achievable. This is a personal choice and challenge to every human being on this planet. Become the type of person you want to see in every other person and change the world.
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Brave Soul! May Your Journey On The Path Of The Seeker Bring You Joy and Peace! I'm currently posting every Saturday. With a new addition the family I have pre-scheduled most posts through December 2022. Full Moon Posts will contain up-to-date content when I can get to them. Thank you so much for your support and understanding! This is a place where you can encounter new spiritual ideas that have helped me develop as an Individual On The Path of the Seeker. Take or Leave this information as you see fit. Archives
April 2024
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