I have a confession. I hate watching the news. I would much rather pretend that none of it is happening. Sometimes I feel like I’m just too sensitive to be in a world with this much hatred, harm and hurtfulness. I disagree with it and it’s deeply heartbreaking to even know that it is happening. As an empath, if I tune into it, I can feel myself wanting to crumble in this overwhelming feeling of heartbreak for humanity, for all the lives lost, for all those who are still alive but in immense trauma, for all the babies and children who are orphaned because old greedy people want “to be right” or want more money. It disgusts me about humanity. War really is the darkest side of who we are as people.
But I can’t hide from it. It is here. It is all around us. I feel frustrated and hopeless that there isn’t anything I can do to stop it. People are marching and protesting, calling state officials, boycotting certain companies. Everyone’s got their way of taking a stand. I’ve done some of this but it doesn’t necessarily seem like the best use of who I am.
Much of who I am (and maybe who you are too) is about doing the inner work. I truly believe in and love our local Topanga company Be Love’s t-shirt that says, “world peace through inner peace.” Now, I know that going to a workshop of self love down the street on a Saturday morning isn’t going to stop bombs happening on the other side of the world. We need the protests and the people standing up for what’s right.
Doing the inner work is the long game. If you really do the work to become a kinder, more loving human inside yourself, you will see it radiating outwards in all of your actions. And if lots of people do this, and educate their children this way, you’ll see more kindness in the world, and it will be authentic because they will be living it from their core. It will eventually impact all future generations and have a positive domino effect. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible for this to happen fast, because work like this means significant internal change, and people don’t change quickly. It also requires us to educate all of our young ones in this way.
Humans have been humaning since the beginning of it all, and war is not new. Kindness, compassion, and right-action are also not new. But there have been epochs where destruction has been the focus on others when calmness has been. I’d like to re-orient towards kindness and compassion in the middle of this Kali Yuga we are supposedly in. It seems to me the only true answer lies in both—the immediate action of standing up for what’s right and working on the long game of generational changes towards more kindness and self-awareness. So, please do both—speak your truth, call your senator, stand up at the protests, and also please read the self-help books, get a coach or therapist, go to the workshop on self love and releasing anger, and invite your friends too because the world needs more people who are awake, aware, and are making compassionate, kind choices for themselves and others so their kids can grow up knowing and living the value of love over hate.
