In Times of Change…
Calming the Chaos
I’ll get right into it today.
Maybe you already saw this video I posted about what it means to calm our chaos (with bonus thoughts on election results), and maybe you missed it.
Whether you click back or not, I want to recap a few things as I’m headed into leading my day-long “Calm the Chaos” retreat tomorrow (who plans a retreat for election weekend? ) which will have attendees from different parts of the political spectrum.
Here’s what I think is relevant for me to remember, and I’m sharing because maybe this will be helpful for you, too:
We have a very long road ahead of us, but as of right now, we’re all in one country and on that road together.
No matter what party you affiliate yourself with, I believe it’s pretty impossible to make meaningful progress for humanity through the lens of hate and deceit.
We cannot react to hate with more hate and still strive toward a safe and secure nation.
It is a brave act to bring peace and calm when we are seething and fearful. It’s our job to take care of ourselves, to rest and heal, so we can continue to show up and advocate where we can.
It is our job to lift one another and be the community we want to see.
Calm will never be created outside until we create it inside.
Until we undo the stories, traumas, and conditioning that we were raised in —
Until we reckon with our biases and pick them apart to see who we really are —
And until we learn to pause and witness our reactions and take action from a place of human-centered values —
We will continue to perpetuate harm and cause chaos.
The external world is created by our internal views. If we’re working from suppression, oppression, racism, misogyny, misinformation, disinformation, trauma, and unexamined narratives — we will continue to see results that hurt humans.
Do your work.
I don’t know all the best next steps, but I trust in a wide range of good information from reliable sources.
Remain curious, ask questions, and dust off your critical thinking caps — media has gone wild. In the Age of AI, misinformation and disinformation are faster and cheaper to manufacture, and because our brains are wired to believe the stories we hear, it’s our job to pause and examine information.
What does that have to do with bringing in peace and calm?
Because it’s really easy to slip into a social media rabbit hole and perpetuate suffering — both to the self (hello, doom scrolling), and to others (hello, rage sharing).
Practice the pause and verify, verify, verify.
Remember, it is a brave act to be creative.
Our creativity is essential in humanity. Our art is our voice.
Whether we create visually or with words, cook with our neighbors, dance with our friends, craft with our hands, make meaning through performance, advocate through demonstration, or discuss and debate in community, we can make the world kinder and safer through radical acts of art.
Advocacy, peace, justice, calm, empathy, and love are concepts that all live together.
It is our job to continue to spread them.
I hope you are gentle and kind to yourself and others this week — and every week.
If I can provide support for you, please be in touch.
xox
Michelle
P.S. I’m booked up for the rest of 2024, except for a few single-session strategy spots. Want to think about 2025 together? Let’s chat & see if it’s a fit.
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