I am in a muddle. What to do? I feel compelled by my dream to travel overseas and do international peace-building work. As a result of my inner push to do peace-building I am leaving Australia for India in October this year. Making the decision to follow my heart feels easy on one level and difficult on another. On one level it is a relief to trust my passion. But our culture trains us to fear letting go. So there is a niggling fear in my mind about the future. When I let go of the need to accumulate 'things/stuff' the voices of our culture whisper in my ear 'but what about security' and 'you need assets to support you in the future' and 'you are being irresponsible'...
Yet accumulating assets is not my dream. I want to have enough to live, and what is enough? Accumulating wealth and assets may be your dream, and if it is then I am impressed, perhaps even jealous. My dream is our planet without violence. My dream is a world where we can live together in harmony. It is an ideal. it is not achievable and it does not have any regard for material wealth. I feel like I 'should' want more security. But I don't. I see myself as a visitor in the world and it is freeing to travel light. It is about trust.
But what about the dream society tells us about family. As a woman, surely I should want to be in a stable relationship and have kids. My brother asked me when I am going to settle down. I do not know if I want that dream. It does not speak to me clearly like travelling overseas, yet what is the truth here? I have never been great at relationships, so perhaps the truth is that I am scared of them and to allow myself to fall in love, commit and settle down is on a core level more authentic than doing what I know I am good at - being free.
I have lived long enough to know that sometimes i think one thing is what I want, but really it is something altogether different. I used to think my mother was a controlling judgmental person and that I did not want anything to do with her. I realised through some confronting coaching that I pushed her away when I was very young because I did not think she wanted me and she had not stood a chance of being close to me after that. So one seeming truth was just a smokescreen for a deeper longing for love. This realisation transformed my relationship with my mother into a wonderful relationship.
What I have got from writing this blog post is that when I am pulled by a positive and expansive energy towards something I need to trust it. When I am pushing away from someone or something due to anger or fear, then it is not my real self making the decision, but anger and pain making the decision.
The point of this blog is that our personal truth is important, but sometimes it is difficult to figure out what that is. Let inspiration guide you and don't let pain make your decisions for you.
This blog explores our human journey from the personal to the global, recognizing that both co-create our world in every moment. I am interested in a world where peace and connection pervade our global community.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Language and Violence - are they linked?
What would need to happen to stop violence and war? What would human beings need to be willing to do in order to put down their weapons and refuse to use violence as an option?
Many people say that violence is not the answer. We say that violence is a terrible thing as people get hurt. If violence is so terrible why do we use it? There is always the option, ALWAYS the option to choose a peaceful path. Human beings are different from other species of animals because we have cognition, reason and choice. We choose violence. Why? Because sometimes peace can feel too difficult. Peace may require being willing to be wrong or to compromise. Peace may require expanding our world view. It seems that we are attached to being right. We are attached to our view of thee world and we get upset when someone threatens our view. Instead of taking the perspective that we can learn something, we try to shut down the other person's perspective. A perspective is a series of thoughts. And what are thoughts? How are they formed? How do you know your thought is the right one? Thoughts are created from language. Language is a form of communication that allows us to understand each other, yet with language we also get so much misunderstanding.
Does that mean that language is a cause of conflict in human beings? Through language we create meaning and through meaning we create reality. Ideology is created through language. My ideology is a perspective formed from ideas I hear from those I respect. The concept of 'I am right and you are wrong' is a phenomenon of language. If we did not have language we may use violence for basic survival but would we have wars? Without language, would a way of thinking, such as communism be a threat? Is it through language and meaning that we gave Jesus 'God' status? Would Islam exist if Mohammed didn't talk about his beliefs? Would there even be a concept of God? Would suicide bombers be willing to kill others and die themselves if they had not constructed a meaning about it all? Does that mean we've made it all up?
Language is an abstraction of reality, not reality itself. This suggests that we kill each other and ourselves based on the stuff we make up because we confuse our concepts with truth.
Alternatively, we could start creating positive and unifying concepts instead. If language is a key and it is an abstraction, then why don't we abstract reality in a positive way? Language gives us the freedom to create any interpretation we want. it is a gift and often we misuse it to undercut others or ourselves. Use your language for care, for strength, for love, for fun. Through how we think and speak we can change the world.
Many people say that violence is not the answer. We say that violence is a terrible thing as people get hurt. If violence is so terrible why do we use it? There is always the option, ALWAYS the option to choose a peaceful path. Human beings are different from other species of animals because we have cognition, reason and choice. We choose violence. Why? Because sometimes peace can feel too difficult. Peace may require being willing to be wrong or to compromise. Peace may require expanding our world view. It seems that we are attached to being right. We are attached to our view of thee world and we get upset when someone threatens our view. Instead of taking the perspective that we can learn something, we try to shut down the other person's perspective. A perspective is a series of thoughts. And what are thoughts? How are they formed? How do you know your thought is the right one? Thoughts are created from language. Language is a form of communication that allows us to understand each other, yet with language we also get so much misunderstanding.
Does that mean that language is a cause of conflict in human beings? Through language we create meaning and through meaning we create reality. Ideology is created through language. My ideology is a perspective formed from ideas I hear from those I respect. The concept of 'I am right and you are wrong' is a phenomenon of language. If we did not have language we may use violence for basic survival but would we have wars? Without language, would a way of thinking, such as communism be a threat? Is it through language and meaning that we gave Jesus 'God' status? Would Islam exist if Mohammed didn't talk about his beliefs? Would there even be a concept of God? Would suicide bombers be willing to kill others and die themselves if they had not constructed a meaning about it all? Does that mean we've made it all up?
Language is an abstraction of reality, not reality itself. This suggests that we kill each other and ourselves based on the stuff we make up because we confuse our concepts with truth.
Alternatively, we could start creating positive and unifying concepts instead. If language is a key and it is an abstraction, then why don't we abstract reality in a positive way? Language gives us the freedom to create any interpretation we want. it is a gift and often we misuse it to undercut others or ourselves. Use your language for care, for strength, for love, for fun. Through how we think and speak we can change the world.
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