I had a poignant experience on Wednesday. First, some context. I’m a Network Spinal Analysis practice member. It’s a technique that relieves tension from the spinal cord with the gentlest of touches. According to Network Spinal Analysis Founder Dr. Donny Epstein, there are 12 stages of healing. These aren’t linear or hierarchical, they’re more like seasons.
Stage one is suffering. It’s an awareness that something is wrong and it’s time to connect with the reality of what is. It’s being with the body to bring ease and compassion to the self. Stage 12 is about community. It’s recognizing that our wholeness comes from bringing our gifts of individuality into the collective. It’s also about receiving gifts from others so there’s a loop of giving and receiving.
On Wednesday, I had a call with other Network Spinal Analysis practice members, and we did breathing exercises relevant to our respective stages. While I did the stage one exercise, the rest did stage 12. Oof. That’s so hard because I take service seriously. It’s one of the core tenets of my spiritual tradition and I always feel pressure to do more and/or that I’m not doing enough.
Sometimes you need to be held by the collective. Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash
And in these times where I know we are the “magic wands,” that change happens because we make it happen, my desire to contribute is immense. It feels like if I’m not doing something, I’m letting the fascists win. But, well, my body needs a break. It’s made that very clear. The breathing call showed me viscerally that I don’t always have to be “on” or giving my gifts. I don’t have to always contribute to society because other people are giving their gifts. Other people are fighting the good fight and when I’m ready, I’ll re-enter the metaphorical arena and give someone else a break.
This is how the collective works. We hold one another as we cycle through our various rhythms.
My spiritual teacher says, “The movement of human beings in this universe is not movement for movementʼs sake, but is comparable to a joyous pilgrimage …. Suppose one among them is attacked by cholera, do the rest go on their way, leaving him behind? No, they cannot. Rather, they break their journey at the place for a day or two, relieve him from the disease, and help him to acquire strength in his legs. Or, they start out anew, carrying him on their shoulders. If anyone runs short of her subsistence, others give her their own. Together, they share everything with all. Together, they stream ahead, singing their leading chorus.”
Later, he says it’s when people “attain a deep psychic affinity while traveling together [this is what] helps them solve all the problems in their individual and social lives.” It’s humbling to admit that sometimes I’m the person who has cholera, metaphorically, but nonetheless, it’s true. And instead of beating myself up about it, I can relax and remember I’m a pilgrim on a pilgrimage and there’s a collective that’s holding me and holding all of us.
I dream of a world where we realize we all cycle through periods of rest and contribution. A world where we give when we can and let ourselves receive when we need. A world where we trust that we don’t have to do everything all the time because there’s a greater collective that’s holding us.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
I didn’t attend any of the rallies on April 5th because I panic in crowds. And while I know it’s important to take care of myself – and I would have been a liability rather than an asset in that situation – it’s bringing up a lot of feelings. Because I care so much about society, I feel like a bad person. What am I doing to fight fascism?!? Do I make a difference in this world even if I can’t participate in the way I’d like?
The answer is yes. A recent Psychology Today article states when we do an act of kindness, we inspire positive change far beyond the person we’re helping – not just by one degree but three, according to social scientists James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis. For instance, if you help a stranger with their suitcase at the airport, that person may feel uplifted and, in turn, pass on the positive energy to someone else. The same applies to the onlookers, who, in turn, may pay it forward to their social circles. In other words, kindness is contagious and can spread in ways you’ll never know about.
Also, our social networks are much more interconnected than we realize. As the Psychology Today author Emma Seppälä writes, “You may not directly know someone’s friends, but your kindness can impact them just the same, thanks to the invisible threads of connection that link us all. It’s as if we are all part of a giant, complex web of goodwill, where every action – good or bad – reaches farther than we expect.”
A little kindness goes a long way. Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash.
For people interested in spreading kindness, Seppälä recommends doing things like complimenting someone, leaving a positive note for a coworker, listening with empathy, and supporting local causes. Those are things I do regularly so from that perspective, I do make a difference, and I’m sure you do too. I can’t necessarily quantify the difference I’m making – I haven’t saved anyone from a burning building or written a bill to support my community, but I’m trusting the small actions I take ripple and spread.
I’m reminded of a quote I use a lot from my spiritual teacher who says, “If one ant meets a premature death, it will disturb the balance of the entire cosmos. Therefore, nothing here is unimportant, not even an ant.” Later on, he affirms that “nobody is unimportant, nobody is insignificant. Each and every existence is valuable.”
I’m not a famous person. I’m not in a position of political power, but my existence is still valuable. My actions are still important even if they aren’t things like going to rallies or marching on Washington. Every day, I say an oath to help others according to my capacity and oftentimes, that means something small. Will I help topple fascism? Unclear. But as I’m learning from research, my influence is much greater than I think it is. Up to three times more, in fact.
I dream of a world where we realize we all have a role to play in this life. A world where we understand we all have different ways of showing up to help others. A world where we remember we aren’t unimportant, we aren’t insignificant. A world where we understand our sphere of influence is three times greater than we think it is, and keeping that in mind, we act with kindness.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
The title of this post comes from a fascinating article I read in my university’s alumni magazine. More than 15% of the global population – about 1 billion people – have been diagnosed with a physical, psychiatric, learning, developmental, sensory, or cognitive disability. And that number is likely to increase due to emerging diseases and natural disasters.
We treat disability like it’s abnormal but the reality is anyone who lives long enough will become disabled either because of an accident or age. For this reason, author and bioethicist Ashley Shew uses the term “temporarily able-bodied.” Yeeees. When I first heard that term, my entire body relaxed because it made so much sense and also reframed my experience as someone with idiopathic hypersomnia. Because I have to nap every day and am easily tired by too much activity, I perpetually feel abnormal. Why can’t I do the things other people can do? And how can I regain health privilege as quickly as possible?
Getting the reminder that people who aren’t currently disabled are experiencing something temporary helps me to feel better. It means I’m not abnormal and instead, other people are going to “catch up” to me, so to speak. I’m learning to live with disability sooner than other people but health privilege is temporary for everyone if they live long enough. To be alive means to have a body that will eventually break down. Instead of feeling envious of other people, I’m working to unapologetically love my body as it is, right now. There’s nothing wrong with me even though an ableist society says otherwise.
An excellent example of accessibility — not everyone can hike a rugged trail but paved trails allow those with mobility issues to see these natural wonders. Photo by Romain Virtuel on Unsplash
If you’re unfamiliar with that term, ableism is a system of discrimination and oppression that favors nondisabled lives and ways of being, often under the guise of empowerment. For instance, prosthetic legs enable amputees to walk “normally.” That’s not to say technology can’t make life easier for disabled people – it does – but society encourages disabled people to see themselves as chronically incomplete or lacking. There’s something wrong with them because they’re not able-bodied. This distracts from the real social ill, that “the world is set up to exclude disabled people,” to quote Shew.
The reality is we’re not all meant to be the same. My spiritual teacher says, “Human society is just like a garland which is made of different types of flowers, woven together by one common thread. The overall beauty of the garland is dependent upon the beauty of each flower. Likewise, each strata of society must be equally strengthened if we are to maintain the unity and solidarity of society.”
So first, diversity is the name of the game, and two, each strata of society must be equally strengthened. That means recognizing there is a place for everyone and furthermore, creating a more inclusive society that plans for the fact people are temporarily able-bodied. Instead of making people feel incomplete or ashamed for losing health privilege (or never having it in the first place), we’d be better off recognizing disability is inevitable. What are we doing to make the world easier, better, more inclusive, and more accommodating? Because after all, the future is disabled.
I dream of a world where we understand health is a privilege that eventually everyone loses. A world where instead of trying to hold on to health privilege, we create a society that accommodates disability. A world where we strengthen all segments of society because we recognize disability is a fact of life. A world where we recognize the diversity of human beings is beautiful, just like a garland.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
In July I wrote a post called “The Dawning of a New Age” about the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. I thought Kamala would be elected and that would kickstart a progressive, egalitarian age. Pluto was set to move into Aquarius and the energy of that is, “Screw top-down hierarchy – give me bottom-up! Power to the people, baby!”
When Trump was elected, I was so confused and disappointed because his election represented a consolidation of power and the worst of Pluto in Capricorn. This isn’t the “power to the people” I was expecting! But, well, we are seeing more people becoming engaged. The Washington Post reported on February 7 that congressional phone lines have been jammed to the point of failure. A system that usually handles a few dozen calls per minute is straining to keep up with more than 1,500.
Representative Becca Balint, Democrat of Vermont, said she normally has two aides monitoring the office phones, enough to handle the handful of calls they typically receive each hour. But since Jan. 20, she has reassigned at least six additional staff members to keep up with a nonstop flood of calls. “What we usually get in a month, we got in three days,” said Sophie Pollock, a spokeswoman for Balint.
It’s us! We’re the magic wands! Photo by nine koepfer on Unsplash
For better or worse, Trump is a galvanizing figure on both sides of the political aisle. He is encouraging more people to get involved in one way or another. That’s something. And it relates to a journal entry of mine from a few weeks ago. I want a magic wand to make everything better. Or a Deux Ex Machina situation. Maybe some aliens to set us straight. Higher Power said to me, “I want there to be lasting change. I want you all to do the work to create that beautiful future you dream about.”
Ugh, no! It’s too hard! But when I accept the truth that I do want to do something, that I can’t just be a good person and enjoy my life, then I get overwhelmed. Little ole me? What can I possibly do? I need a nap every day! Sometimes I take two! How am I supposed to make any kind of difference? For that, I return to a quote by Rutger Bregman in the now-defunct publication The Correspondent:
“Our inclination – in talk shows and around dinner tables – is to choose our favorite kind of activism: We give Greta Thunberg a big thumbs up but fume at the road blockades staged by Extinction Rebellion. Or we admire the protesters of Occupy Wall Street but scorn the lobbyists who set out for Davos.
“That’s not how change works. All of these people have roles to play. Both the professor and the anarchist. The networker and the agitator. The provocateur and the peacemaker. The people who write in academic jargon and those who translate it for a wider audience. The people who lobby behind the scenes and those who are dragged away by the riot police.”
In other words, we need everyone – not only certain kinds of activists. Our actions may not make a splash, they may seem small, but they’re not insignificant. Because in order for change to happen, there are many, many roles to play. It’s not the size of the role that counts, it’s that we’re doing anything at all.
I dream of a world where we recognize there are no shortcuts. A world where we understand in order to create something progressive and egalitarian, we have to put in the work to make it happen. A world where we realize no matter the role we play, it still counts and adds up to something. A world where we recognize we are the “magic wands” we’ve been dreaming of.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
It’s a weird time to be Jewish and to celebrate Hanukkah, which commemorates a military victory. I’m still lighting the candles with my friends and family but the whole thing has me contemplating many things: how to be in the world, what I think, why it matters, and who is listening.
If I listen to people in the digital world, everything seems terrible. I don’t only mean the active wars. People are saying spiteful things during presidential debates. They’re presenting polarizing views and shooting for the lowest common denominator rather than higher ideals. If I only focus on the digital world, I get depressed. But in the physical world, things aren’t so bad depending on where you live.
The sign says it all. Photo by Adam Nemeroff on Unsplash
In the physical world, people say, “Hey, is that your umbrella?” when they notice one left behind on a train seat. In the physical world, strangers smile at each other. In the physical world, good Samaritans help elderly ladies carry their walkers up bus steps. It reminds me of a poem by Danusha Laméris called “Small Kindnesses” that I’m quoting a portion of:
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
That’s my experience of the physical world. That mostly we don’t want to harm each other. That usually we see one another as human beings and say, “Here, let me make things a little easier for you.” It’s that genuine care and love for humanity that solves problems great and small, according to my spiritual teacher.
“This love will give people guidance; it will show them what to do and what not to do,” he said. “It is not necessary to study great numbers of books or to rely upon those who speculate with the future of the silent masses. The only essential requirement is to look upon humanity with genuine sympathy.”
That’s what I’m doing. Day by day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I’m looking upon humanity with genuine sympathy and love hoping that one day, it will all add up. That my small actions and someone else’s small actions will turn into something bigger and greater so that when people are out in the world, they’ll say to themselves, “Things aren’t so bad.”
I dream of a world where we recognize there can be a difference between what people say and how they treat each other. A world where we remember that people may be mean and spiteful on the internet, but in the physical world, they hold open doors for one another and say “bless you,” when someone sneezes. A world where we understand the only way to solve our problems great and small is by starting from a place of love and kindness.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
I have some notes for the cosmic powers that be. Is there a way to lodge complaints? A manager I can speak to? No? Who designed this system?!? At times like these, I understand why people question the existence of God/Higher Power/Source, etc. because if there is a God, why would It allow all these awful things to happen?
I think about this a lot both in terms of my personal life and in the broader world. Being the human I am, I want the world to revolve around me. I want things to go how I think they should go and struggle when they don’t. However, I have enough humility to recognize my perspective is limited. I’m not omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent but I do believe there is an entity that has all those traits.
If that’s so, then how can I account for all the atrocities in the world? Wouldn’t an all-powerful loving entity want to stop things like war? First off, yes, which is why every spiritual teacher ever preaches love, acceptance, and respect. The sticky wicket is that humans have free will. According to my spiritual philosophy, we are all on a spiritual journey. Not just humans but plants and animals too. Plants and animals are moving instinctually toward Cosmic Consciousness but humans have the blessing? the curse? of being able to choose whether they want to move closer or further away. And sometimes people choose things that I wouldn’t.
But an omnipotent entity can make anything happen because that’s what omnipotent means so why wouldn’t a loving Higher Power intervene in these instances? Why wouldn’t a loving Higher Power say, “I’m putting a stop to all this conflict”? The answer I keep coming to VERY begrudgingly is in this spiritual journey, Cosmic Consciousness is playing the long game. It’s not only about what happens today, tomorrow, or 50 years from now. It’s about what happens 500 years from now, 5,000 years from now. What will best serve humanity’s evolution? What will help us evolve as a species?
I hate this answer, truly I do, but sometimes what helps us grow the most is strife. I used this quote just the other week but it’s again applicable: “Whenever there is clash or conflict within any structure, whether subtle or crude, it acquires subtlety. This applies to both psychic clash and physical clash. The more subtle the crude mind becomes as a result of internal clash, the greater its spiritual awakening.”
In other words, I think society is undergoing a spiritual awakening. Do I love the mechanism for it? Not in the least, but I’m choosing to believe this is part of a larger plan that I’m not privy to. That all this psychic and physical clash is fertilizer for our evolution, leading us somewhere we want to go.
To quote my spiritual teacher again, “All human beings want light. One individual human is more luminous and more throbbing than that universal darkness. So human beings should always be optimistic. The cimmerian darkness cannot retard your progress, cannot cover the light of the human heart. The spirit of your heart must move on and on against obstacles. Kick away your obstacles like pebbles from your feet – you are stronger than your obstacles.”
I firmly believe the obstacle we are kicking away from our feet is narrow-mindedness and anything that seeks to strip us of our humanity. Whatever reduces people to segmented groups, whatever urges binary ways of thinking and acting, whatever encourages us to cover the light of our hearts is what we’re working to get rid of day by day, little by little until eventually, more of us will be spiritually awake than asleep.
I dream of a world where we take heart in trying times because we understand there’s something bigger than us happening. A world where we realize we are each playing a part in a Cosmic drama. A world where we recognize that growth happens in response to clash. A world where we remember society as a whole is experiencing a spiritual awakening.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
I’ve loosely been following the Writers Guild of America strike, which has now been joined by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. I feel like I’m watching a dystopian movie but here’s the kicker, it’s all really happening.
The CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, said during an interview at the Sun Valley annual conference, which has been touted as a “summer camp for billionaires,” that he thinks those on strike are “unrealistic.”
“There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic,” he told CNBC. “And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.” He added that while he respects the right of the unions to “get as much as they possibly can in compensation for their people,” they must “be realistic about the business environment, and what this business can deliver.”
Maybe Bob Iger should be realistic. Photo by Blogging Guide on Unsplash
How about some context? Iger recently took over again at Disney and he has the potential to earn up to $27 million in 2023, his first full year as returned CEO. Let’s break that down a bit further. He is paid $74,175 per day whereas Hollywood writers earn on average $69,510 a year. Abigail Disney, a documentary producer who is also the daughter of Roy E. Disney said in a tweet, “You can only call your workers and partners ‘unrealistic’ if you cannot see beyond the confines of the very narrow and morally bankrupt business ideology that has set your company on this long track toward exploitation and injustice.”
Amen! Actor Sean Gunn had this to say about Iger’s comments: “I think when Bob Iger talks about, ‘What a shame it is,’ he needs to remember that in the 1980s, CEOs like him made 30 times more than what the lowest worker was making. Now Bob Iger makes 400 times what his lowest worker is and I think that’s a f***ing shame, Bob. Maybe you should take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, ‘Why is that?’ and not only why is that, is it okay? Is it morally okay? Is it ethically okay that you make much more than your lowest worker?”
Apparently, we as a society think it is. Iger isn’t the only CEO to make hundreds of times more than the lowest-paid worker. An article in the Guardian from a year ago found that in the top 300 U.S. companies, the wage gap is 670 to 1. CEOs are making an average of $10.6 million while the median worker is getting $23,968.
I can’t really conceptualize a million because it just sounds like a really big number. To break it down into something more understandable, 1 million seconds is approximately 11 days. How much do you think 1 billion seconds is? It’s more than 31 years. Years. Billionaires can’t possibly spend all the money they have – and you can try using the calculator https://neal.fun/spend/. Billionaires can purchase multiple mansions, make multiple movies, buy multiple yachts, purchase the Mona Lisa, and still have a lot of money left over. A LOT.
We don’t have to be so inequal. Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
No one person should have that much wealth and that’s why we need a maximum wage. We have a minimum wage, why don’t we have a maximum on how much one person can earn? I know, I know, everyone in the U.S. thinks they are temporarily embarrassed millionaires so fine, put the cap at a million dollars and make sure the lowest-paid worker is earning more too. In cooperative business models, the wage gap is much smaller. The highest-paid executive at Mondragon Corporation makes six times that of its lowest-paid employee.
Lest you think this is some kind of mom-and-pop operation, Mondragon employs around 80,000 people and its businesses include schools, a large grocery chain, a catering company, 14 technology R&D centers, and a McKinsey-like consulting firm. In 2021, the network brought in more than 11 billion euros in revenue.
You can succeed in business while also being more equitable and Mondragon is an example of that. To bring it back to the writers’ and actors’ strike, what I fear will happen is the studio execs will raise prices for consumers in order to keep lining their greedy pockets. But what I would like to happen is for our country’s artists to say, “No, Bob, you don’t get to make 400 times more than I do,” and then force a maximum wage on him. Stranger things can happen. This is Hollywood we’re talking about after all.
I dream of a world where there’s a cap on wealth. A world where one person isn’t allowed to accumulate billions while others must work multiple jobs just to survive. A world where the highest-paid worker makes no more than 10 times the lowest-paid one. A world where we remember there’s enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
Summer is a season that elicits nostalgia like none other for me. I long to recapture the lazy, sun-soaked days of my childhood when time stretched like Silly Putty. I want the carefree aesthetic portrayed in media – beach days, fireflies, and ice cream. In my mind, everything was great way back when. Except…it wasn’t.
It’s a quirk of the brain that we misremember the past and downplay negative events. We drop the bad stuff – sunburns, rain, fights with loved ones – and only remember the highlights. When we do remember the bad stuff, we reconstruct it to make whatever happened more enjoyable and entertaining. The time you broke your toe while hiking becomes more exaggerated, more colorful. It’s a yarn you trot out at parties to elicit laughter and pity. But there’s still some wistfulness about the past.
Nostalgia creates a warped view of things. Much like a view-master! Photo by Girl with red hat on Unsplash
Researchers call this “rosy retrospection” and we do this not only in our personal lives but also when we fantasize about how society was better “back then.” In a recent poll, six out of every 10 Americans said that “life for people like them is worse today than it was 50 years ago.” But as University of Calgary instructor Paul Fairie demonstrates in his Twitter thread, “A Brief History of Things Were Better 50 Years Ago,” we’ve been saying this since 1890!
To be clear, all humans do this and have always done this because it’s how our brains work. It’s not a relatively recent development dating back to 1890. We all fall into the nostalgia trap but the important thing to remember is it’s not true. There is no idyllic utopia in the past. Things were not better back then. Some of the bigger societal things like climate change and wealth inequality, yes, they were better years ago, but our day-to-day lives were not.
I put this to the test by rereading some of my journals and the time periods I thought were great were anything but. I was insecure or heartbroken or uncomfortable or not sleeping through the night. I was stuck or broke or irritated. In short, I was experiencing the entire range of human emotions because that’s what it means to be alive. There is always something stressful or bothersome happening just as there is always something fun or joyful happening.
A time when everything is perfect doesn’t exist except in snippets. We have perfect moments, hours. If we’re lucky, perfection stretches to days but never months or years. It’s just not possible because the nature of life is to change and move. It’s why my spiritual teacher says, “Here in the universe, nothing is stationary, nothing is fixed. Everything moves; that’s why this universe is called jagat. Movement is its dharma; movement is its innate characteristic.”
The best we can do then is feel gratitude for the perfect moments life grants us and keep our eyes trained ahead, not behind. One more quote from my spiritual teacher: “You are to look ahead, you are to look forward. If you look back, if you look behind, you are wasting your valuable time.” And time, as we all know, is precious.
I dream of a world where we remember that rosy retrospection is real and it’s likely we’re misremembering the past. A world where we understand things weren’t better in our personal lives five years ago or 50 years ago or 500 years ago. A world where we remember to keep our eyes trained ahead in order to avoid falling into the nostalgia trap.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
The mind is a powerful thing. I’m pretty sure every spiritual tradition touches on this using different phrases such as, “magnifying mind,” “as you think, so you become,” “what you focus on grows,” etc. The question for me then is what am I focused on? Am I keeping my mind trained on greed, envy, cruelty, anxiety, fear, or selfishness? Or am I turning toward higher ideals such as love, generosity, and communion?
What’s interesting about the mind is that it’s the “cause of all our sorrows and predicaments, and it is the cause of our supreme bliss,” according to my spiritual teacher. “It is the cause of bondage, and it is the cause of liberation,” he adds. The mind is capable of both bondage and liberation and it’s up to us to direct our minds toward freedom. He has a beautiful metaphor for this and says the mind is a tat́asthá shakti.
What are you focused on? Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash
Tat́a is the line where water touches land. If you move toward the water, the next moment you’ll be underwater. But if you move upward, you’ll reach dry land. The mind is like that — if it moves upward, it will be transmuted into spirit. If it moves downward, it will be transmuted into matter.
I think it’s pretty clear what we as a society focus on, where our minds are at. Take what happened recently in our oceans. When several extremely wealthy people went missing to view the remains of the Titanic, we exhausted numerous hours and resources searching for them. There was near-constant media coverage and updates. However, when a boat sank near Greece with 700 refugees onboard, we didn’t expend nearly the same number of resources or grant the same amount of media coverage.
Keep in mind, the International Organization for Migration called it one of the worst sea tragedies in the last decade. So, you know, a big deal and certainly worth covering extensively. Many people, including Barack Obama, pointed out the discrepancy so it’s not as if no one cared about the refugees but repeatedly, we’ve shown there’s a difference between lip service and action.
Many Republicans, and some Democrats, repeatedly offer “thoughts and prayers” after mass shootings but don’t actually enact change because it benefits them financially not to. They care more about lining their wallets than saving lives. I could keep going with examples but I won’t because I made my point: our society’s collective mind is moving toward the water, so to speak. It’s focused on material goods and worships at the altar of materialism. However, I know it’s not beneficial for me to focus on negativity and tout doom and gloom so I won’t. Instead, I’ll say there are pockets all over the world where people are focused on “land,” they are training their minds toward spirituality, and pretty soon, we’ll reach a tipping point.
I’ll quote my spiritual teacher again who says, “[H]uman beings should always be optimistic. The cimmerian darkness cannot retard your progress, cannot cover the light of the human heart. The spirit of your heart must move on and on against obstacles. Kick away your obstacles like pebbles from your feet – you are stronger than your obstacles.”
I dream of a world where we remember our minds are powerful and we focus them accordingly. A world where we understand the mind can either move toward bondage or liberation and the choice is ours. A world where we each focus on higher ideals and bring a better world into being.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.
One of the most striking things for me about being in Australia is not the accent or driving on the left side of the road, it’s their take on security. Going through airport security for domestic flights is a breeze – you leave your shoes on and there aren’t any restrictions on liquids. You’re required to remove your electronics but that’s it. Done.
When I visited the National Gallery of Victoria, I was confused because not only is the art museum free (except for certain exhibitions), there is no security check. Nobody rifled through my bag, and no one yelled at me for wearing my backpack on my back instead of on one shoulder. In contrast, the Met in New York specifically mentions both of those things on its website. Australians aren’t particularly worried about weapons because they don’t need to be.
Shortly after a mass shooting in 1996, elected officials banned semi-automatic and other military-style weapons across the country. On top of that, the federal government prohibited their import and lawmakers introduced a generous nationwide gun buyback program, funded with a Medicare tax. Many years later, lawmakers added a new National Handgun Agreement, a separate buyback act, and a reformulated gun trafficking policy to their legislative arsenal.
I wish the U.S. was more like Australia in some ways. Photo by Joey Csunyo on Unsplash
The result? Gun violence declined to a vast degree. In 2014, the latest year for which final statistics are available, Australia’s murder rate fell to less than 1 killing per 100,000 people. In contrast, the murder rate in the U.S. in 2020 was 6.5 killings per 100,000 people. And just in case you didn’t know, we had 647 mass shootings in 2022 alone.
People remind me the risk of being a mass shooting victim is low, statistically speaking, but you know what’s not low? The constant vigilance we live with as a society. There are reminders on public transit to say something if you see something. There are extensive security measures at the airport. We search people’s bags in certain public spaces and we have active shooter drills in schools. In other words, Americans are always on high alert for an attack, whether they’re aware of it or not.
Coming to Australia, I feel myself relax in a way I’ve never been able to the U.S. Yes, I could be stabbed, but frankly, I’d rather confront a knife than a gun. Why do we cling to our second amendment rights so fiercely? Some act as if the second amendment is a bulwark against tyranny when in reality, we’re already in a plutocracy or the reign of the rich.
The founding fathers weren’t some demigods who knew the best course of action for all of eternity. They were flawed human beings and their ideas about gun ownership are no longer relevant nearly 250 years later. How could they be? For context, at the time the founding fathers drafted the Bill of Rights, they couldn’t even conceive of indoor plumbing. Why are we still hanging our hats on their outdated ideas?
My spiritual teacher says, “Social ideals and systems should be formulated after considering the time, place, and person as well as the all-round progress of the society. It may be that something which is quite useful for a particular time, place, and person is totally worthless for a different time, place, and person. Society is not a static entity, but a dynamic one.”
Society is a dynamic entity, which means we can say, “You know what? We’re safer with fewer guns. Who cares what some long-dead white dudes said 250 years ago? Their ideas are no longer useful.” It can be done; we have a modern example in Australia and I have to tell you, I’m a fan.
I dream of a world where we remember society is a dynamic entity, which means recognizing ideas outlive their usefulness. A world where we remember we don’t have to cling to outdated beliefs. A world where we let Australia serve as an example of how to handle gun violence.
Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.