Skip to main content

Responsibility is Personal.


I have been pondering the notion of "personal responsibility", taking just a moment each day to think about the things out there in the world that make me upset, things that trigger me and challenge my knowledge of fairness and equality, and - is it possible, could it be true, that what I see out there in the world is mirroring what's happening in here?

Thanks for coming to the party, blame and projection, but it's time for you to go. Here's some Advil and cab fare.

OK, so here's an example that came up for me yesterday, around this idea of "bringing it back to self":

ME: "Don't the Occupy rally attendees know that they contributed to the economic challenges we're now facing? That it's not just the wealthy folks and the banks that have created the imbalance? Don't they remember all the stuff they bought on their credit cards, stuff they couldn't afford, stuff that's now piled high in the garage? Didn't some of them buy big houses and borrow lots of money they knew they couldn't pay back?" (man, don't I sound mean.).

The new, SELF-DISCOVERED ME: Where in my life have I overspent, collected things to soothe my heart? Where have I lived outside my means? When in my life did I not take ownership of my thoughts, my actions and considered how they would affect others? Where have I felt deprived? Where have I defined myself by the #'s in my checkbook? Really???

This practice is not for the faint-of-heart. Self-reflection promises to magnify EVERYTHING in your life. It's very very good, but can be uncomfortable, painful, depressing, agitating. It's true, I mean, I'm uncomfortable just writing all this. Yet, I'm beginning to understand what an imperative step this type of process is not only for our own personal healing, but for collective healing of the world. And only through this process, I believe, will we then begin to see the world change for the better.

Imagine your life is plentiful, you are free from physical and emotional pain, you and all are forgiven, and there is no blame. Imagine our world where everyone is free, there is plenty for all, there is no pain, and there is no blame.

ME: Us and Them.

The NEW, SELF-DISCOVERED ME: ONE.

Yes, responsibility is personal.  My eyes well, my joy swells, my spirit is well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

everything counts.

What a week it has been. My MacBook crashed and needed a new battery. I lost my phone. I found out I have arthritis in my hips. There is a horrid smell coming out of my apartment building A/C so I receive a toxic welcome each time I walk into the building and hallway to my home. Lots of driving, too, which doesn't help the hip sitch, finishing off the week with a journey down to Kohl's to make a return only to learn their computer systems were down.  A long list, counting one by one all the things that went wrong.  Thank You for joining me on this episode of "Poor Me." Oh! And then the money counting; realizing I had spent more than I made and coming face to face with how what I bring to the world is valuable, yet somehow not valuable enough to support a regular 'ol life. What I do counts. Who I am counts.  With each annoyance, frustration, sadness, negative storm cloud, I also had moments when I looked at the beauty around me, slowed down, took a gratitude invent...
Post a Comment
Read more

staying connected.

I made a big change.  I followed a call.  I was drawn to Colorado, and to the sun, and to things not quite in my view yet.  Two months ago I moved about 30 miles from Denver, to a cabin, in the mountains. It's remote here, but I still need to connect with the internet powers, and to share my music during these extended pandemic times, and to ease into mountain living with a sprinkling of modernity. I found a broadband company who can service my area and last week they installed all the moving internet parts. Yay! No. slow ... slow ... "can't connect"...over and over, "can't connect"...  or WON'T, internet, be honest, is it can't or won't??  (I *may* have accidentally been talking to the modem, and the laptop, the broadband company.) I persisted, and as I prepared for this morning's Zoom service, I plugged my ethernet cable right into the modem and I was connected.  Wahooooo ! A half hour later, it couldn't connect again, despite being...
1 comment
Read more

Wonder of Wonder, Miracle of Miracles.

I just had an ah-ha, whilest scrubbing my teeths. I am emersed in Jewish and mystical study, and the study of spiritual and religious practices of the world,  more now than ever as I write my Sabbath Queen show. There is so much to know, so much to learn, and for this lifelong student, I'm in hog heaven. As a child, I always loved to learn. Moreso about people, and from people and situations, and less from a textbook. Looking back now, I think I thought the constant need for information wasn't the right way for a person to be. Maybe a teacher at school once told me to stop asking questions in class one day. Or maybe my line of questioning in different situations was provocative. Or maybe people didn't like always being under a microscope having to talk about themselves. Or ... I dunno. Here is my ah-ha: Judaism is a path where you may still not have learned everything even as you take your last breath. Prayers, Hebrew, stories, holidays and festivals, practices, commen...
Post a Comment
Read more