Reflections On An Imperative Of Our Times: Connect the Dots!

How might all of our lives be different if we humans were empowered with truth and love? 

How might we all experience deep and abiding caring and connection with one another if we were empowered with connecting the dots between all that we are experiencing here in our nation and across the Earth — catastrophic tornadoes, wildfires, floods, droughts, heat domes, atmospheric rivers, melting glaciers and rising seas, hurricanes and tropical storms, desertification and over population, mass climate migrations and the sixth major extinction, homelessness and crushing poverty, endless wars and late stage capitalism? 

And added onto these are the multiple additional and interconnecting crises of the Covid pandemic and other epidemics of ignorance and disinformation and dehumanization, addictions and depression and anxiety, racism and inequity, propaganda and polarization, voter disenfranchisement and rising authoritarianism, patriarchy and misogyny and hate and all forms of violence perpetrated on humans, other beings, and our Earth Mother. How might our lives be different if we were grounded in consciousness of the roots linking all of this together?

Yes, it is a lot to hold. A lot. That said, the price of turning away is far, far greater. The tragic trajectory that we have long been on is unsustainable and, if we do not act, will only ensure greater and greater suffering and death and ultimately the failure to sustain a habitable planet for today's children and those of the future.

There is an imperative that we connect the dots here, now, today of all that causes so much harm, destruction, and suffering. Empowered with truth and love, we have the potential to change the course of our human history and that of all inhabitants of planet Earth.

* * * * *

Sometimes I just want to scream. Like this morning. In listening to NPR, there was repeated coverage of the horrific tornadoes which occurred two nights ago across multiple states completely wiping out whole communities and killing dozens. Heartbreaking! Then, just a few minutes later, there was an interview with a strategist for the Democratic Party who was talking about the threats to democrats winning elections and how, among other things, the party needed to be very careful when talking about climate change because so much of the electorate is rural and just struggling to put food on the table.

I wanted to scream because what about those who have no table to put food on?! What about those who've lost everything to the catastrophic tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and more that are relentlessly causing the deaths and destroying the homes of humans and wildlife alike — and all of which is directly connected to the human caused climate crisis?

How can any of these talking heads speak to the needs of these times when, subtly or overtly, they are depriving us again and again of the larger pictures and deeper truths that we most need to know?

The ignorance and polarizing propaganda embedded in the status quo is killing us and destroying our Earth home.

* * * * *

Over two years ago I wrote NPR about their ongoing failure to address the greatest crisis which humankind has ever faced — the climate crisis. (https://mollystrongheart.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-letter-to-npr-and-pbs-why-i-cannot.html.) While they and other mainstream corporate funded American media have made some progress and are now much more often using the words "climate change," there remains such an incredibly long ways to go to truly inform all of us about the nature and depths of the crisis we are in. 

Because I listen to, read, and watch both mainstream and independent resources of information, I have come to recognize the many differences between the kinds of narratives that we the people are hearing, exposed to, and absorbing. While Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! (https://www.democracynow.org/) has for years been connecting catastrophic storms, wildfires, droughts, floods, fires, and more to — in Amy's words — the "human caused climate crisis", the "man-made climate emergency", the "climate catastrophe," we are at best only rarely hearing stories on corporate funded mainstream media about things like the devastating and deadly recent tornadoes framed as part of a human caused global climate emergency.

The cost of our not being truly and deeply informed is in itself a catastrophe of profound proportions.

If we were an informed populace — could you imagine anyone of any political party having even a chance of being elected to any office if they denied the climate emergency or didn't place funding to address our warming planet as the top most priority? Could you imagine the polarities of democrats versus republicans as taking on more meaning than who, of any political party, is in the pockets of enormous corporate interests and who is not? Could you imagine powerful wealthy interests as having a hold over our thinking, our values, our shared interests, and our actions and tragic inaction if we were empowered with truth and love?

* * * * *

I envision a very different world. 

Just imagine if the voices and the stories that we were consistently exposed to and hearing were those of the truth-tellers, the wisdom-keepers, the visionaries, the courageous youth and elders past and present who embody a depth of integrity and imagination and consciousness of a highest good. These are the humans who see with the eyes of their hearts, who experience our interrelationship with all beings, who know the sacredness of our Earth Mother and all of life.

These are a few of my treasured teachers:

Pema Chödrön, Riane Eisler, Joanna Macy, Jane Goodall, Naomi Klein, Amy Goodman, Arundhati Roy, Maria Ressa, Vandana Shiva, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis, bell hooks, Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz, Angeles Arrien, the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, Rachel Carson, Dorothy Day, Hannah Arendt, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Michelle Alexander, Jane Mayer, Marian Wright Edlelman, Frances Moore Lappé, Terry Tempest Williams, Margaret Mead, Christiana Figueres, Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Sir David Attenborough, Howard Zinn, Martin Luther King, Jr., James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Langston Hughes, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Cornel West, Bernie Sanders, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges, Henry Giroux, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Jeremy Scahill, David Sirota, Daniel Ellsberg, Father Daniel Berrigan, Michael Parenti, Paulo Freire, Chalmers Johnson, Timothy Snyder, Jason Stanley, Bill Moyers, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Dahr Jamail, Michael E. Mann, David Korten, Bryan Stevenson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ibram X. Kendi, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Michael Meade, Carl Jung, Frank Ostaseski, Francis Weller, Fred Rogers, David Bedrick, Jeff Brown, Thích Nhất Hạnh, the Dalai Lama, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Judith Duerk, Rachel Naomi Remen, Brené Brown, Tara Brach, Charlotte Kasl, Mary Oliver, John O'Donohue, Rumi, Hafiz, William Stafford, Wendell Berry, Joy Harjo, Amanda Gorman, Chelan Harkin, Jack Kornfield, Matthew Fox, Robert Beatty, Doug Pullin, my three sons, my loving husband Ron Matela, many beloved and wise friends, our Earth Mother... And my list just keeps growing...

Deepest bow of gratitude to all who've been empowering me over so many years now to shed layer after layer of my indoctrination, illusions, and ignorance. These are the ones who've helped me to remember what I have forgotten and inspired me to root ever more deeply into a path of truth and love.

* * * * * 

Riane Eisler (https://rianeeisler.com/) has long written and spoken about systems of partnership and systems of domination, contrasting and illuminating both the roots of violence and how it is that we as a human species hold the potential to evolve. Riane writes: "Underneath all the complex and seemingly random currents and crosscurrents, is the struggle between two very different ways of relating, of viewing our world and living in it. It is the struggle between two underlying possibilities for relations: the partnership model and the domination model."

This is a very different framework that cuts through the constant polarities, distractions, disinformation, dehumanization, and us versus an Other narratives that we are immersed in here in America and beyond. We humans can evolve. We can recognize and transform our injured instincts and harmful belief systems into greater consciousness, discernment, integrity, truth, generosity, wisdom, and love. We can come together rather than be swayed again and again to dehumanize one another and act against our best interests and those of our planetary relations.

One significant source of empowerment that I have discovered is to recognize the normalization of domination culture in America and throughout much, but not all, of our world. It is my belief that awareness of the problem is half the solution. Therefore, questioning, exploring, understanding, and healing what has long plagued our nation and others is so important to charting a radically different course.

In Nurturing Our Humanity: How Domination and Partnership Shape Our Brains, Lives and Future, Riane Eisler writes: 

"In contrast to conventional social categories such as religious versus secular, Eastern versus Western, rightist versus leftist, or industrial versus pre-industrial or postindustrial, the categories of the partnership system and the domination system show that the social construction of the roles and relations of the two basic forms of humanity — males and females — is of central significance for a society's beliefs and institutions, all the way from the family, education, and religion to politics and economics...

Domination culture environments not only harm health but also tend to keep people in an arrested state of development focused on what psychologists call 'defense' or survival needs rather than 'growth' or actualization needs.

In this sense, domination environments keep humanity at a less advanced level of overall human development. They interfere with the full flourishing of those very qualities that make us happiest: empathy, consciousness, creativity, and love. But it does not have to be this way. We have choices...

None of us can do everything. But each of us can do something to help build the solid foundations for a more equitable, peaceful, and caring partnership world. Our future and that of coming generations depends on this — starting with what we do today."

 * * * * *

These are frightening and often heartbreaking times. It takes courage to be conscious, to be in this world with our eyes and hearts open, and to embody a profound commitment to truth. It is an ongoing act of bravery, compassion, and deep caring and love to see and feel and hold what is happening within us and all around us. And fear is indeed a natural reaction to lifting the veils of our illusions and ignorance and moving closer and closer to truth. At least this has certainly been my experience.

It is also freeing to realize that sorrow, grief, and rage is a measure of our humanity and our maturity. As Francis Weller wisely reflects, "The work of the mature human is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other, and to be stretched large by these two things."

May we all increasingly connect with the support, the courage, and the love that we need to be stretched large by both our grief and our gratitude. Because in the midst of it all, there remains the beauty, generosity, kindness, wisdom and love that I believe is our true nature. I truly believe that we humans can evolve. We have choices. And especially those of of who are privileged — we have choices. And with our privilege comes responsibility.

We can do our part and decide what kind of difference we want to make. We can root into the work of shedding our harmful beliefs, our apathy, our turning away, our obstacles that we've absorbed in our families and culture that limit our capacity to care, to love, to act. We can unite in an ongoing way with all of our sisters and brothers worldwide who are committed individually and collectively to addressing and healing the great crises of our times. May we each do what calls to our hearts.

Tears and prayers for all who are suffering so greatly. May we be part of what alleviates this suffering in our shared hurting but beautiful world. May truth and love be our guiding light.

Bless us all, no exceptions...

💗

Molly