the human group - session 45 - equal difference
What magical quality do you bring to a relationship, community or ecosystem? What qualities do you admire in others?
Are we equal in our different qualities?
An ecosystem has many layers, depths and moving parts that make up the whole, what is our integral role within the ecosystem? Are we playing that role already? Like a tree that grows and lives its natural course surrounded by the elements and in doing so it creates a canopy, a home, oxygen for us to breath. Is the tree aware of its huge contribution to the ecosystem? Does the tree need to be aware of its contribution? Do we need to be aware of our natural contribution? Perhaps we do not see it, or cannot measure it therefore it remains unacknowledged? And all that we can quantify or all that sits within the framework of our society is noticed and leaned upon too much.
Our equality is determined by what we know and this is a very small frame to place upon an infinite picture. So why equality now? I have spoken of our attachment to identity in a previous post, saying that our identities have lost their relevance as we move forward in evolution and the tribal conflict among sexes, culture, skin colour, political party is simply a symptom of an unstable and fracturing story of who we are. The fighting, struggling and protesting is an attempt to convince ourselves that the struggle is real, that I am oppressed, that the other is bad or that I am superior and secure. Being oppressed is a convenient excuse to bully, coerce and not to accept where you are in life and take responsibility and make a step forward.
‘You need to accept where you are in order to move on.’ - M
A human in the group asked, ‘why are we still on these issues of equality. Don’t we have something better to focus upon?’. This question needs to be pondered and asked yet the social climate of equality may be too fragile to handle such a question. Instead of encouraging different point of views and perspectives it cancels or polarises anything that is different.
What happens to authentic expression when we cannot ask the questions or say the things that are on our minds? Do we really want to live in a world of false smiles and inauthentic exchanges just to avoid offending somebody?
There is a balance of course, between considering others before we speak and express without filters.However this is only a medicated transition phase to a point in time where we can express our full and uncensored selves. The human group is this training ground that creates an environment of acceptance and forgiveness that can hold anyone’s free expression and teach others how to handle uncomfortable triggers. This is how we navigate the way of nature, the unknown. In the freedom to be ourselves we find our place in the greater ecosystem, unaffected by what we think we should do or be.
We need our power back to find that we are and have always been equal to all life no matter how it’s expressed. And this goes far beyond the human animal and into all life and elements.
How do we regain our power?
‘the greatest rebellion is to act as if you are already free.’ - Alnoor Ladha
If equality is the change you wish to see then act like an equal and treat others as equals.
With great responsibility comes great power. When we act on our own intuition, dreams, ideas and heart nobody shares the responsibility of the decision. In this present climate in which all decisions are based on consulting secondhand information, tradition, science, teachers, parents, governments and authority, distributing the responsibility of that decision amongst a wide variety of elements. We distribute the power between all these elements at the same time and we wonder why we still feel like little girls and boys that need to be looked after. This is because we have made very few major decisions for ourselves to consequently feel the power of directing our now lives. This could be quitting your job to pursue a joy, defying tradition by doing things differently, different relationships, whatever, the relevance and imagination is all there waiting for us to listen and take a risk to live our lives.
We are equal yet our equality is obscured by the framework we place upon our existence and we have blinded ourselves from our own integral role we play in the ecosystem. Retaking our responsibility for self, creating space to listen, hear and accept one another, and decentralising all the power we give to institutions and bringing it back to the local are all ways in which we can reawaken ourselves to our nature and natural equality of difference.
This discussion was deep and rich and took us places that were previously thought of as unconnected. Thank you all for participating and creating this collective and open wisdom.