LOVE AND LIGHT BRIGADE

Love and Light Brigade

Creation

     

I read something yesterday that triggered something in me and I felt some sort of way. The person was referring to the love and light brigade and pretty much berating and judging them for their way of coping with this pandemic. Deciding they have their head in the sand and blah blah blah for a long time.

Anyway, it made me stop and look inward because I kind of consider myself one of those light and love people (if I must label myself) and I was offended. Generalizations were made about those kinds of people and you know what happens when we generalize a whole segment of the population.

What I came to understand about myself as a person who chooses to see what is in the way of me being a more loving presence to myself and to others is that filters of past experiences sometimes get in the way and I fail miserably. I can be judgey, gossipy, superior and oh so many more. The difference for me is I’m aware of this tendency and I choose consciously to change that behavior in me! In me! For I can only change it in me. I can then turn around and share with you IF interested in how I made the journey from self-loathing to Love. And as Iyanla Van Zandt says, “Call a thing a thing!” Whenever we are pointing a finger at someone else in a superior, I am smarter than you because kind of way, YOU, my friend, are in self-loathing.

I don’t tackle the challenges in my life with light and love because I am in denial about my situation or because I’m superior. I do it because it works for me! Love and Light = the Divine = Intelligence = Source = Something Greater than Myself. It is the force that allows the flowers to grow through concrete. It’s the force that allows trees to know when to shed their leaves, when to bloom, when to bear fruit. I call this force the Divine because all the other words are so charged for me and for others. Assumptions are made so easily based on a word. Dismissal occurs in an instant. So call it what works for you, God, Jesus, the Universe, Buddha, Allah, Jehovah. No judgement here.

I don’t want to get into arguments about why the COVID-19 is here or it’s meaning or any of those things that can distract from the fact that it is here. And let’s face it, we are all a little bit narcissistic. How does this affect me? What is going to happen to me? What is going to happen to me and mine? But hopefully once we have gone there, we can look out and say, now what?

Who do I choose to be in this new challenge? Am I going to be a person that looks at others and judges them. Or am I going to remember that sometimes when I’m frightened and facing the unknown,  I lash out, I shut down, I overeat, I might even hoard a little bit, maybe chocolate 😉). This doesn’t mean I have to agree with another’s behavior but I can understand.

We’ve all seen the stories of people (mothers/fathers) whose loved one has been murdered, going to the prison to forgive their child’s murderer. Sometimes after we get over our shock, we are touched by their bravery and courage and wonder how they can do that. And we admire them. So why can’t we do that on a global level? Why can’t we forgive ourselves and each other, even though WE ARE ALL Children of the Divine, for acting like buffoons sometimes? Why can’t we admire each other for choosing to be a loving presence instead of a divisive force?

When I offer my drumming sessions or guided meditations and prayers, it isn’t because I think it will make the “bad” situation go away. It’s because I’m offering tools that have helped me cope when I’ve been scared, alone and uncertain of the future. And in offering what might help others helps me to cope in that moment too.

Is the virus here to offer us a spiritual awakening or reset? I don’t know. Who truly does? All I know is that it is providing one for those interested in that journey. And it is giving our earth a much-needed opportunity for respite and rest.

So be gentle Children of the Divine acting like idiots and I include myself in this description for we are all in this together. We are inter-dependent. We need each other. All of us, together. We also need our earth for survival. I, for one, am going to tame my narcissistic tendencies with all the love and light I can muster. Love and light to all of you. Accept it or reject it. Your choice.

THE ART: Creation

I created this mask in the 90's. I didn’t sign or date things back then because they were just my personal tools for healing. I never dreamed I would share them in this way. I took this photo in August 2019. Thank you iPhone. I’m just sad it’s such a poor photo. I was so intrigued by the shadow I didn’t notice I had cut the top off of the mask.

I created this mask at a time when I was struggling with disordered eating and a friend was struggling with a child addicted to drugs and another with her addiction to relationships. In other words addiction. This mask represents our wounded selves crying out into this big old world where we didn’t quite fit in. This was my soul telling me the earth/world, The Divine loved me no matter what I was experiencing at my own hand or had experienced at someone else’s.

I love the symbolism of this photo. And that it rests above my Wizard of Oz lamp (flying monkeys and all). We are all wounded beings. If we won the parent lottery and were not traumatized in childhood, then it’s possible we have been traumatized at some point in life. If you were on the planet during 9/11 you were traumatized collectively. Life as we knew it changed forever. This pandemic is a collective trauma. We are all deserving of kindness and yes, love and light, as we try to cope with our fear, our anger, our grief.

This mask represents how I see us right now. One big screaming mouth. Differing views and opinions. A cacophony of sound. The shadow no longer lurking in the background but risen to the surface in a loud primal scream of fear, anger, sadness, grief, longing.

So yeah, I’m going to give that screaming baby some nourishment and that, my friends, begins with love and light followed by action from that place of higher consciousness.