Anger, Avoidance, Disbelief....these are all frequent emotions that are seen in our lives today, due to the external realities and events conscious in our current world situation. I am not immune to this, nor am I saying that I have perfected the ways to rise above because of the thoughts I will express in the paragraphs to follow. It's only to offer comfort, encouragement, and an alternate way to view the situations and relationships you find yourself therein.
The world today is racked with political strife, racial injustice as well as other forms of discrimination, thus conflicts are abundant between all differing viewpoints. Both sides want to believe that they are both right and on the side of good. Both sides have their claims as to the validity and facts to back this up. But, from what I can tell, no one really takes the time to listen to the other, they are already armed with their reaction to the response given, to defend, belittle, and silence.
What is the real reasoning behind these behaviors of anger, violence, avoidance, such emotional strife? I believe a simple four letter F word: FEAR.
Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
As I look outwards at the reactions to the current pandemic of COVID-19, I believe the root is caused by fear. We, as humans, well, as American citizens, have grown comfortable in our creature comforts, in wanting things to say the way they are, normal is seemingly a synonym for safety and security. When something whether internal or external threatens that, we react with anger, disbelief, avoidance. On both viewpoints of the COVID-19 pandemic, we see the emotionally violent reactions such as the protests against in defiance and those upset with those protesting in fear of being put at risk but both stem from the discomfort caused by fear. Fear may be irrational at times, not built on a real external threat, but it is valid, no matter the belief or stance. For all people have a reason for being on this green and blue little marble of which we abide, all for our personal and global uplift.
This fear stems from the belief that something is being taken from you, something that you feel requires your personal well-being and safety. But from what I have found, having our security shaken causes an inward shift to reveal the need to not rely so much on the external but our own inner guide. In this discovery, we find we truly can persevere, we heal, transcend, and evolve.
I, myself, have been a long since sufferer with fear and anxiety. 2020 has been a year of discovery in just how deep my fear dwells, that of trauma issues from my childhood and more recent past, becoming in itself post traumatic stress. This has caused my inner beings of both masculine and feminine to either be reactive in defense or to be suppressed, undervalued. In my local little world, I often have friends and colleagues confused about why I don't attend their events or am as social as I "should be". They mistake this lack of connection and reciprocity as a lack of support. Nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, it all stems from my trauma issues in that for years now, perhaps my whole life, I have deemed certain people and places as either safe or unsafe and have acted accordingly therein, separating or excluding myself from relationships and events based on these underlying beliefs. So, when I failed to attend an event, it was a reaction to my own self's logic that perhaps I would not be safe at such place or with such people.
I can now proudly admit that I have started the slow process through therapy and my own self work to heal this tendency and move forward to a better, more complete life.
I believe fear to be the precursor to all our decisions in life, negative and even perhaps positive. It could be the underlying reasoning behind why we choose certain relationships and avoid others, why we attend certain events and not others, as it is with me.
I do not mean to discredit the actual reality of abuse or those people or circumstances that can cause harm, but the underlying root of all is FEAR.
So, what's the next step? To overcome and truly thrive, we must go inward, dwell deep within our pain, cherish, nurture, heal the inner wounded child, and allow him or her to know that all will be well. That despite the external circumstances of the world, you can and will persevere. Life is not based on the external, but is an inward journey towards wholeness and healing.
Furthermore, after doing this self-work and healing, you can begin to see the reactions of others, whether you agree or disagree, as stemming from their own pain and fear. In that, despite the fact that your personal viewpoints may differ, you can begin to have compassion and that will begin the course toward healing for yourself, for others, and for the world. From there, true evolution of soul, both singularly and universally, will become a reality. I believe the events of the current world situations are for that reason and that reason alone. A crumbling of our own false comforts and securities meant to disrupt, then to heal, finally transform.
The world is being cleansed, my friends, by rain, by fire, by a shaking up, internally and externally.
Allow the fear, embrace the fear, do not run or react, just dwell within and know all is being made right.
The Thriving Artist blog is a subset of Cafe-Girl Productions, Inc, a film and media company with the focus of raising social awareness to the needs of society to impact the world to change into a better place. Support Cafe-Girl Productions, Inc at: www.patreon.com/cafegirlproductions
Thoughts on what you read? Comment below. I try to respond to all comments with thoughtful replies.
