Understanding the journey

Picture a circle with a line through its middle. On one side of the line is red, on the other blue. Not just in politics, but on any issue, for years one side has tried to push the line and gain more of the circle. As the line moves the side losing ground builds pressure and begins to move the line back. This battle seems to never end. At its essence one side seeks to impose its opinions and beliefs on the other. The tyranny of democracy, or in this day of social media, the tyranny of volume and outrage, tries to silence the slight minority (say 51% versus 49%) or the less visible. This is despite that for most issues or beliefs, the difference in the number of people on either side is relatively small. The problem is both sides think they are right and both sides judge the humanity of those who disagree without bothering to ask why they disagree and/or fairly consider their reasoning. People are bullied for even asking a question.

Imagine instead of a line moving the colors on both sides the circle blending to purple. That is what this blog is about. The war for territory within the circle replaced by an openness to new ideas and respect for opposition.

The issue lies in the question: What is the truth? The way the human brain works is based on its programming. If a person in your childhood who was mean to you wore a red scarf, you will have a negative reaction to people wearing red scarfs. The brain reacts not in our best interest, but as a protective device as its first priority. Also, there are literally a million things happening around a person at any one time. We can only handle a few at a time. The brain selects only a few and again it’s priority is based on threat and survival. It not only protects from physical threats, but also mental threats, primarily threats to the self-image or ego. The bottom line is we not only are programmed to see things differently, but to see different things, yet we each think we are right. I propose we all see only a small portion of a complicated truth and by coming together we can put pieces of the truth together and get a broader and more valuable connection to truth.

If we view everything, even life itself, as a dynamic relationship and not a verb or noun we can work on improving the relationship versus affixing blame or proving one’s self as right. That requires listening and asking, “what is my role”. It involves understanding where the other is coming from and asking “why?”. It is similar to a couple's consoling session. Listening, asking questions, and taking accountability is the key to success.

At it’s core I see this journey as valuing the sovereignty of the individual as long as it does no physical harm to another, violate the civil rights of another, or restrict another’s opportunity to realize their dreams. However, this sovereignty is not free. If you are free to choose, you must live with the consequences of those decisions and be accountable for your actions. As an example: if you choose to not contribute to society and work or add value, you will need to accept that you will not be compensated with a great deal of money and may live a life of poverty. (Of course those with issues out of their control, such as mental illness are exceptions). I have come to really relate to a saying," You are born looking like your parents but die looking like your decisions".

There is also a spiritual side. I see the manifest world as a creation of the energy we put into it. Some work by Dr. Emoto might serve to illustrate. Dr. Emoto has done work with water crystals. In one experiment he places water in two glasses on top of pieces of paper overnight; one glass on a piece of paper with the word hate written on it and one on the word love. He then fast freezes the water. The water that was on the word hate forms very ugly disjointed crystals, the one on love forms beautiful organized crystals. The two keys as far as this blog is concerned are:

1) We are made up mostly of water

2) It is not based on what is loved or what is hated. Love is love and hate is hate.

The world we see today is the result of our energies, no matter the intent of our actions.

We will explore current issues in this blog, ways we can listen to each other, unfold a broader truth, and build a better world through the manifest as well as the spiritual plane.

This blog will ask questions of you to help you uncover your beliefs and see if you have any red scarf issues. You will be asked to look deeply at how you protect your self-image, as well as how you justify your actions to your beliefs. Some might find that their stated belief, such as "divisiveness should end", are in fact creating it through their actions and words. You may decide to make some adjustments, you might not. Either way it is my hope you find a deeper relationship with yourself as a consequence. And.. hopefully a deeper understanding and respect for those currently on the other side of the line.

I write this blog with great fear. I know some will call me names, see me as a racist, claim I don't value human life, and many other things. No matter how strongly I feel I must speak out to get others to question their beliefs, the fear is great. Yet as I see hypocrisy break my heart almost every day I am comforted by the dream someday we will join each other and ( to quote Lennon) the world will live as one.

As I have shared these ideas with others I have often been asked if I am a liberal or a conservative. In many ways I think this type of classification to be counter productive. I might be classified as liberal because I have a deep compassion for the undeserved and believe in equality for all. I also believe many who are on the right have these same feelings. I believe the difference is more in the paths seen to get there.

Others might find me to be more on the right because I feel we give too much of our social responsibility to the government and seek legislation to solve problems best solved human to human.

I also feel the working class has for many years been forced to pay for these legislative laws and programs lowering the quality of life for the working class. We often seem to avoid the question of 'who pays for this?'. Somehow we think if the government is paying it is free. I also have an aversion to putting other people's money where my mouth is versus putting my money where my mouth is and will offer some suggestions on this subject in a directed blog.

We all have different beliefs. Only as we listen and respect the ideas of others can we begin to have a deep respect and priority for the sovereignty of the individual. Only then can we break destructive dynamics we get to purple. By challenging what you think is right, you not come to a different conclusion, but the reward is in the challenge.