Where Do We Go From Here?

“There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love, all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace, and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt. It's true that there are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it's more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They're opposites. If we're in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we're in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear."
~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

As it became clear that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States, I was on the "What the hell just happened?" train with many other Americans. And after the disbelief faded, what was left was sense of disorientation that hasn’t quite lifted yet. 

It was like one minute I was living in a country that elected a black president, where gay marriage was legalized, and a woman might be our next president... and in the next moment, I was living in a country that elected a man who doesn’t know how to listen, has a hot temper, and has made declarations that have stoked the fires of racism & sexism. 

The harder thing to digest, is that they are both the same country…. This IS America.

There is no where to run, though you may be tempted.
There is nothing to fix, though it may feel like something has gone terribly wrong.
There is only finding a way to let it all in.

We are seeing who we really are as a nation… all of it.
That’s what has been happening the last several years, thanks to social media and the volume just keeps getting louder, the picture more clear.

This great divide in our country has been here since it’s birth.
Race, Gender, and Class have divided us since this country was founded. 

Our institutions have upheld systems that oppress some and benefit others based on these divides. There has been genocide, violence, & ample suffering in our nation because of these divides.

We have all experienced these divides differently, and more and more of us are slowly waking up to other people's experiences besides our own.

There is no us, and them. Though we operate like there is.
We are a collection of diverse individuals, with shared roots. We are an eco-system, interdependent, and intertwined. 

We are one conciousness fragmented into individual bodies, with a diverse array of thoughts, opinions, experiences & beliefs. We are living in a world where there are an infinite amount of realities taking place simultaneously.  And to each individual, their reality is the Truth.

We all want our Truth to be right. We want our Truth to be acknowledged, and validated. We want protection from other people's Truth that causes harm.

So we amplify the divide, by clustering into safe spaces with people who share similar ideas, values, and experiences. People who re-inforce our worldview and our sense of self.

This is why we have taken refuge with communities and people either online or in life, that mirror our values and experiences.

When we can share our fears and desires with people who ‘get us’, we get to belong, we get to feel accepted and loved. All of which helps us grow a healthy sense of self, a strength and a confidence.

We all need our tribes, the places we call home, so that there is always somewhere we belong, somewhere we can safely grow and know more of who we are. 

But then we must leave these spaces with the inner strength and love we’ve cultivated. And take it to the people & places that need it.

The hardest thing to do is hold space for someone else’s pain, rage, or grief, especially if we have no context for why they feel what they feel.

The only real fight on this planet is the tug-o-war between fear & love.

Fear is only concerned with self-preservation, and it’s definition of self is confined to the fragile bodies it calls 'Me & Mine'.

Fear wants to dominate, to be right, fear resorts to violent words and behaviors. Fear needs to control.

Love is death to 'Me & Mine'... Love dissolves separation, it embraces everything. Love invites us beyond what we think we know and who we think we are. Love is Fear’s worst enemy, and it’s only salvation.

Fear is always sparked by the Unknown, I can feel it inside of me now…. a tension around what comes next? A desire to ‘do’ something to prepare or protect myself.

None of us know what Trump will do as president. So there is fear and concern that some of shifts towards justice and equality that were beginning to happen for populations who have suffered for so long will come to a halt. 

There is a fear that somehow we have lost the wind in our sails toward unity, that Trump’s words and actions will embolden white nationalism and patriarchal thinking. 

But there is also a sense of Trust rising up in me…. I have been preparing for this my whole life. This is a spiritual battle, at its core. And there are only two choices, Love & Fear.

This is not a fight that can be won with logic, facts or statics. 

The front lines are not in our heads but in our hearts.

We are being called to embody the highest principles of compassion, love & forgiveness. 

We are being called to remember our ancestors, who faced harsher conditions, violence and death, in ways many of us can’t imagine, and still took actions that would create better lives for future generations.

We are being called to more moments of inner stillness, less social media and more in person connections. More desire to listen than be heard, more asking for a higher power to move through our thoughts, our words, and our actions. 

We are being called to make every day a practice in loving. A practice in taking good care of ourselves so that we can care for others. A practice in connecting to our bodies, embracing our light and our shadow, our brilliance and our ignorance.

We need practices and rituals that expand us, expand our hearts, our patience, and our understanding. So that there is room to be with all of it without looking away, so there is the courage to take action, and the resiliency to withstand hurt.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

There is no map, we will be answering that question everyday with the thoughts we think, and the actions we take.

I will be going inward and whatever emerges from there I will be using to bless everyone who needs it most… including Trump.
As my great-grandmother used to say all the time, ‘bless his little heart.’ 

If you need some fortification, some community, a place to deal with whatever this election has brought forth for you. The last class of my KamaYoga series is tonight.

We will be working with the element of Space, and looking at it's power to help us embrace EVERYTHING. Through practice and play, we will explore how to go from ignorance, shock, and disorientation to expanded wisdom and wholeness. Kinda perfect medicine for the post election hangover!

For more info: http://www.spaceforlove.com/events/kamayoga

And if you can’t make tonight’s class you can always work with me privately, virtually or in person .Email info@spaceforlove.com to setup a consult.

with love,

Kamali