“We are not separate beings, you and I
We are different strands of the same Being.
You are me and I am you
and we are they and they are us.
This is how we are meant to be
each one of us,
each of all of us.
You reach out across the void of Otherness to me
and you touch your own soul.”
from Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance, by Leonard Peltier
I could not seem to escape some very unpleasant reactions last week when I learned on Facebook that 4 Canadian friends are proud to be supporting Trump. My mind seemed stuck in waves of shock, betrayal, rage and disappointment. After feeling wretched for a day, I remembered to practise self-compassion in order to stay out of the grip of panic and anxiety. Tears of grief flowed as I rode my bike on a clear magical morning. I have known Linda for 32 years; I hired her as a live-in nanny when my kids were young teens and I was away working. Nature lover, artist, kind and dependable, a passionate voice for girls’ liberation. Her husband is the same; into permaculture, Fairy Creek actions, playful and a patient father. I knew they were vaccine hesitant but did not realize they were anti-vaxxers; they lived in a different town and I only saw them twice a year. Now they are spewing conspiracy theories to their FB followers; Satan-worshipping pedophiles and communists lurking at every corner, type thing. I emailed and asked them to send me their main source of information. He sent me 2 long emails explaining “what is really going on.” After I sent her a Democracy Now clip about Trump I was told to stop harassing her and to stop sending “political propaganda.”
I keep reading the above poem by Leonard Peltier because if he could love his enemies, then maybe I can as well. I want to share some other strategies that help calm down the fear response, that might help you when you realize anxiety is building. Yawning, laughing, crying, singing are some ways to discharge stuck emotion. Long, slow exhalations, shaking out the limbs, exercise, dance, being outside in nature, getting a hug from a pet or friend, or making a list of safe places, people, music, memories, sensations and commitments that you can read aloud. My commitment evolves and is based on this one: “From this moment on, I cheerfully promise to do what I can to allow safety to soothe me, from the inside out.” Instead of saying “Oh no” I say “Oh well.” I also bring to mind my PLAY acronym: P= Pause with Presence, L=Listen to Learn, A= Attend with Awe, Y= Yield for Yin and Yang. Also, I received a Reiki treatment from Gerly Metsar and felt my mind and body melt into ease and release.
Leonard Peltier wrote this after 24 years of being in prison: “We need more compassion; that compassion is our own highest possibility.” To have compassion for others, I also have to cultivate it for myself. Letting go of imagined threats feels better than building walls of paranoia. There are real threats coming at us for sure and I will be more effective in the long term fight if I am well-regulated and relaxed.
