Something totally unexpected happened to me on the way home from my Tuesday evening barre sculpt yoga class. (Yes, even in the desert one desires a firmly toned behind).
So right after class, a few sweaty, achey-butted gals were talking about the day-after-inauguration Women’s March and my yoga instructor was all “Marches where? Why?”
Huh. We gave the basics (ie women’s/human’s/sentient beings rights being rolled back by sexist cro-magnons, etc.) and she still couldn’t grasp the purpose.
Head tilted, eyes squinted, question marks over the head kind of confusion.
How exactly does one have zero awareness around something dominating nearly every moment of reality?
Ooooh, with some mf commitment to avoidance letmetellyou. She said she won’t engage in anything political because she doesn’t want anything negative in her field.
Honestly, I had to tailor my own engagement with the world as I shifted from doing full time organizing to healing work. I sorta get it.
There’s definitely privilege in being able to say “I’m not letting that in,” or “I don’t need to pay attention to that.”
There’s also a bit of magic in deciding what you do/don’t want in your field.
Most of us allow any old thing/person/vibe in, am I right?
And even though I’m super attentive to what I allow around me, there’s something I’ve learned: we can’t avoid the world — and if we try, we really miss out.
“I am not a pessimist, because I am alive.” – James Baldwin
As complex and devastating as the world is, we’re here. To be alive. To engage. To evolve. It’s WHY we’re here!*
SPOILER ALERT #1: Even for those who heavily curate their fields, pain and pleasure are inevitable. No level of avoidance commitment can change this.
SPOILER ALERT #2: The ONLY damn choice you have is who you be when you encounter pain and pleasure.
So who will you choose to be my love?
* Did I just deign to answer the age old question of why we’re here?…Er, yeah, I might’ve.