Working together for real change
Freedom For All
This note is partly addressed to someone, for whom I have the utmost respect and admiration:
You are a role model to me. Your many efforts are super-solid - regardless of whether they may be tampered with by Big Brother. I, too, wish to celebrate people's unique identities and our collective energies, and thereby, make positive change possible. I also believe setting ethical standards and implementing proper check systems - while putting power back in the hands of the people - may help create a more healthy, empowered, and free society. I hope that we may remain allies in this common struggle.
The unfortunate reality is, oppressed people everywhere carry a great deal of pain and anger. This is not a simple problem: communal healing is necessary. Whenever oppression exists - and particularly, if people are seeking to shift social and environmental paradigms - anger, hostility, and resentments will inevitably surface. Recognizing that the game is skewed in another's favour creates tensions and an ugly backlash - even if one *thought* one was being an ally. This can really hurt.
Yet, oppression is like an out-of-control garden hose: everyone around it is bound to get splashed with cold water. In 'Healing Circles: Transforming Grief into Growth for Children and Teens,' they suggest that it's 'healthy to express...[angry feelings] in a non-destructive way.' That's why healing circles make sense to me: they offer a more holistic and supportive framework for addressing one's anger and facilitating deep personal changes, while enabling mutual co-operation and community action (see following post).
My own oppression issues are complicated. I won't bother getting into them (for once). Yet, I do realize my repressed anger often jabs those, whom I actually want to be friends with or connect with. In my desperate need to get my points across, and to finally be believed (&*@!#%^*!), I can be reactive, passive-aggressive, and insensitive towards others. I'm trying to improve in these areas.
The upshot here is: I don't wish to antagonize (most) people, especially those who I am in solidarity with (although there are some who have betrayed me deeply, but they know who they are). To those who may somehow feel shafted by either my distemper, my urgent need to prove things, or my bitterness about being endlessly scoffed at, while fervently trying to warn people, I do hope we can heal our differences.
This note is partly addressed to someone, for whom I have the utmost respect and admiration:
You are a role model to me. Your many efforts are super-solid - regardless of whether they may be tampered with by Big Brother. I, too, wish to celebrate people's unique identities and our collective energies, and thereby, make positive change possible. I also believe setting ethical standards and implementing proper check systems - while putting power back in the hands of the people - may help create a more healthy, empowered, and free society. I hope that we may remain allies in this common struggle.
The unfortunate reality is, oppressed people everywhere carry a great deal of pain and anger. This is not a simple problem: communal healing is necessary. Whenever oppression exists - and particularly, if people are seeking to shift social and environmental paradigms - anger, hostility, and resentments will inevitably surface. Recognizing that the game is skewed in another's favour creates tensions and an ugly backlash - even if one *thought* one was being an ally. This can really hurt.
Yet, oppression is like an out-of-control garden hose: everyone around it is bound to get splashed with cold water. In 'Healing Circles: Transforming Grief into Growth for Children and Teens,' they suggest that it's 'healthy to express...[angry feelings] in a non-destructive way.' That's why healing circles make sense to me: they offer a more holistic and supportive framework for addressing one's anger and facilitating deep personal changes, while enabling mutual co-operation and community action (see following post).
My own oppression issues are complicated. I won't bother getting into them (for once). Yet, I do realize my repressed anger often jabs those, whom I actually want to be friends with or connect with. In my desperate need to get my points across, and to finally be believed (&*@!#%^*!), I can be reactive, passive-aggressive, and insensitive towards others. I'm trying to improve in these areas.
The upshot here is: I don't wish to antagonize (most) people, especially those who I am in solidarity with (although there are some who have betrayed me deeply, but they know who they are). To those who may somehow feel shafted by either my distemper, my urgent need to prove things, or my bitterness about being endlessly scoffed at, while fervently trying to warn people, I do hope we can heal our differences.
posted by outside the box... at
10:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home