Knowing that pushing against anything makes it stronger, the way conscious creators can most effectively execute change is through imagining and believing in what we want, how we want it to look, and see it that way. However, in times like these, as awareness is exploding, I am now embracing a combination of learning, action, and imagination as the best path forward in lifting myself and the people of the world into a reality more aligned with justice and happiness for everyone.
Through inspired action I am committed to creating my own reality which can in turn impact and transform the people whose lives I touch. I've known for decades that we are all at unique points in our awareness and understanding of our own purpose in life and how we are manifesting it. We can't tell by looking at another person what their experience is, what their reality is, so best not to judge. Instead, I strive to give the benefit of the doubt and focus on my own integrity of action and reaction in any situation. Back in 1975 I embraced the notion that Earth is a giant school where we're all taking different courses and learning in our own ways.
Balance, possibility, awareness. We learn from each other. We learn what to do and what not to do. We learn how to take care of ourselves and how to take care of others at the same time. We learn how our speech and our choices affect others, how our actions impact our daily lives and we learn what we're creating as a living context if we are awake enough to know it. Life is beautiful and magical when we know we each create our own reality. It's all in how you look at it. An example of this is George Floyd's six year old daughter Gianna saying, "Daddy changed the world." This is the truth.
Although there have been many times since Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012 (and, I know, for the past 400 years) that I sadly watched the news of yet another black person senselessly murdered, it was on May 8th after Ahmaud Arbery was killed while jogging that I started waking up about white priviledge. That's the piece that's new for me. In my Instagram and Twitter feeds, white people have been speaking up more and about white supremacy and the responsibility of white people to change the conversation in their own families, workplaces, and within themselves. An avalanche of news and events followed that ignited a mass of white people to join with the Black Lives Matter movement. It's been heartening for me to see the diversity of cultures and colors of the protestors.
As people have been waking up, I've seen people make rules about how to awaken, how to protest, and how to unlearn. I've heard "if you're a white person, don't join in the chant of 'I can't breathe' when you protest" because it's not for you to say. They've said, "if you post a black square, don't use the hashtag #blacklivesmatter because that will distract from the work" or "if you post a black square you have to do all of the other things required of being an activist or you don't get to post a black square" and on and on. This is called taking someone else's inventory, and it hampers the process of awakening. Remember, we are all at different places in our process in life. We all have different lessons to learn. We all have different roles to play. We are all a part of the dance of life. And, conscious creators do things differently.
What I'm choosing to do in this time is threefold: (1) learning how to do it better; (2) writing to my local elected officials, especially the mayor to encourage alignment with the Obama Foundation's My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge (launched in 2014), and enact Campaign Zero's 8 policies of 8cantwait.org that have decreased police violence by 72% in cities that have done so; and, (3) envisioning a world where everyone can win, a world of peace, justice, and love, and a world where we all keep learning how to let life get even better for each and every one of us. What is your vision?
- Raphaella Vaisseau
