LET’S LOVE
LOVE YOUR BODY, MIND, AND SOUL.
LOVE THE WORLD.
There's a level of observation that educates, informs, teaches and inspires. And then there's a point where it just becomes an overindulgence in passive consumption. It becomes an excuse to be spared of others' observations and judgments. An excuse to not participate fully in life. Cause when you hold back, no one can knock you down.
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Making friends with myself, the different parts of myself that I see so clearly reflected in form in my outer world. Through different people, environments, animals, bugs, life experiences. All different facets of my own self playing out right before my eyes. To wonder and marvel at, to engage, participate and play with.
How deep does the love for myself go? Can I truly love each part of myself as each person who might bother, annoy, challenge me? Can I really say that I love these parts that conflict with other stronger beliefs I might have? Can I really accept other people and other lifestyles? Can I honor myself and my individual needs while also honoring those of others? Others who appear to be 'other' than me, but are in fact just another aspect of me. Maybe i was that same person 5 years ago, maybe i had those beliefs before, or maybe i will have them in the future. Maybe my mother had those beliefs and quirks, and it reminds me of something i wanted to rebel against, and really it has nothing to do with the belief or thing itself, simply the fact that i wanted to rebel against whatever it was. So many intricacies to why we reject different parts of ourself and struggle and engage in conflict with..others..within... But there is a point of choice. Do i want to continue engaging in battle with this concept, or do I want something new? Something more inclusive, tolerant, loving. That loving choice always feels better ultimately, but it may be the most difficult one to choose, in a moment where old, die-hard beliefs and concepts are being challenged. We've had so many experiences in the past that continue to prove the loving choice always works out to be the best. It always feels better, it feels truer, and more aligned with our deepest desire to just be nice to ourselves and others. If all these experiences keep showing us love is the way, then we will know, with more and more conviction, even in the midst of a challenging tug-of-war of indecision...we can remind ourselves, oh yes, the loving choice, that will be the one that works. I can just trust that, even if I may not be sure. I can just trust. There is always a point of choice. Will it be the loving one or not? Will it be born of a fresh, new loving intention, or will it be a replay of old, safe, familiar habit? When we choose love, we choose to love ourselves, all parts of ourselves, even the outward, seemingly 'not us' parts. When we love ourselves, we love all of life. Then there is nothing else but love. We elected for our president the star of a ridiculous reality TV show and now we are all playing into the show and the drama of it all. Let's not get emotional and fired up about the person or the show in front of us. Let's instead get fired up about the ISSUES, and what WE CAN DO about it. All the reactionary behavior of complaining, blaming others, or threatening to run away and escape is not helping. It's the same childlike dramatic behavior that the TV show in front of us is encouraging. Let's instead stop watching and taking part in the show, and come together in solidarity to create positive change. We can create a new reality outside of the show.
We forget. We forget that WE are in charge, not politicians. The system would not exist if we did not feed or buy into it. The same way that a show could not stay on air if we didn't watch it. This cow with a numbered label attached to its body is eerily reminiscent of Jews being stamped with a number in concentration camps. This is also much like how black people were treated in slavery. These races were not seen as human. They were seen as lower level vermin. Another species that were certainly of lower value and importance than the white supremacy. Not considered worthy of humane treatment. Expendable. Do we not see that this is EXACTLY how we view and treat animals? We think of them as lower, less important, that their lives have much less worth than ours, and we are entitled to treat them however we want, and exploit them for our own benefit. Because we are, of course, a superior race.
It is difficult to be eating the flesh of a murdered animal and claim to not be racist. The very beliefs that produce racism are the same that permit and justify abuse and production of animal products. Consuming animal products requires continuously making a choice to value your life above another living creature's. That justification worked when we lived in the jungle and had to compete to fend for our survival, but that is now no loner the case. We discriminate against animals because they don't speak our language and they don't look or behave exactly as we do. It's the same thing we still do to other humans. We think they're different because they look different, communicate differently, need different things. But they are living, breathing creatures on this planet who feel pain and suffer, who innocently exist on this planet and deserve the same care and respect as any other living being would want. They just want to play, love and have freedom to enjoy their lives, the same as we do. You can think you are enlightened, super successful, perfectly polished, a wonderfully embodied god/dess and just rocking everything in life, but when mama shows up, all of it vanishes, and you are just mama's little child. All accomplishments, titles, and ideas you have about yourself melt into the warmth of that cozy, warm, snuggly, familiar place in your mom's heart. This place that held you from the very beginning is one of the most comforting beds you'll ever lie in. Nothing else compares, and any other desire to be someone or do something vanishes at the slight beckoning to nestle under that mama blankie of love, protection, and acceptance.
What if sex and sexual energy was never deemed anything different or separate from any other regular part of your body and your life? What if it was never thought of as bad, shameful, ugly, disturbing, inappropriate, wrong, dirty, seedy, slutty, degrading, disrespectful, angry, violent or shady? What if it was so normalized to just feel every part of our body equally? What if it was acceptable, dare I say it, to even love our entire body? What if we were all on board with feeling pleasure and excitement? What if the pleasure of enjoying our own bodies was considered to be beautiful, normal and it was encouraged, instead of being some dark devilish 'mistake' that needs to be expelled from our lives? What if the religious could see the fallacy in believing in an all-knowing and all-powerful God that would create bodies providing immense sexual pleasure, only to supposedly condemn, deny and shame it? What if we honored ourselves and the gift of feeling good in our own bodies?
We are living in a great time for vegans- There is a lot of awareness now around wanting to be kinder and healthier with our diets, and now there are so many foods catering towards vegetarians and vegans. It's fantastic progress we've made from the days where the word vegan was completely foreign and vegetarian meant, 'Um, should I bring you some iceberg lettuce with our Caesar dressing?'
Let's be honest though, in our attempts to be more aware of what we eat, are we really eating healthier with these new vegan options? Now vegans can have vegan burgers with fake meats and fake cheeses, vegan donuts with 'egg substitutes' processed flour and a whole bunch of refined sugar, even regular pizza restaurants will offer a vegan Deep dish pizza! Whoa! It's great because we're being kinder to the animals, but are we being kind to our own bodies? And are we being kinder to each other? Sometimes being vegan turns into still not being conscious of our own health. And sometimes being vegan turns into a political stance that leads to more divide and anger between vegans and everyone else. In the midst of a period where I felt I lost myself--leaving behind mediation, leaving behind my values and belief systems, things that I knew to be true about who I really am--I forgot that I also abandoned my connection to my sexual energy and my body. When I started to reconnect to my body and my sexual energy, things started to make sense again.
I notice my hesitation around putting anything 'out there'- words, pictures, videos, even creating any kind of job or career that says 'Here I am, world, this is who I am and what I do.' I'm afraid it will pigeon hole me and force me to uphold that image. I lose my freedom in growth and change because now the world sees me as 'this person' and I don’t want to feel guilty or weird about changing it when/if I decide to do something else. I'd rather wait until my 'true final calling' appears and then I can present myself as being and representing 'that.'
With the TV all the programs have been chosen for me, I have no participation in this process at all, only to choose a program from the limited options in the beginning, and then lay back and submit to mindless entertainment. It's a completely passive activity that allows you to numb out of life. The program options are usually of that nature, a lower vibration numbing entertainment that leaves me feeling out of my mind and out of my power. It's a great distraction for a once in a while thing, but it can quickly turn into an addictive pattern because it feels good to numb out your mind, feelings and emotions, which at times can be quite exhausting and painful. And giving up your power means giving up your responsibility which can feel freeing to remove the weight of the mind that contemplates what you need to do in your life, and then judges whether or not you're doing it right or good enough. It kills your creativity, inspiration and passion though as your sense of self and active participation in life are taken away.
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MICHAELA CLARA I'm here to share what I've learned through my journey of self exploration-traveling around the outer world and within the inner world-learning about how to live a healthy life, in alignment with the body, heart and soul. Every day I'm discovering how to live more in health, connection and truth. Through joy, passion & self love, creating the life I want, and sharing this love with others. Join me for the ride! Read More |