Hard Times, Painful Lessons

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"I have come to believe, over and over again, that what is important to me , must be spoken, made verbal and shared even at risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. "
Audre Lorde
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
There are times in your life when you need to sit down with an older wiser soul and be handed a cup of very strong tea and some strong wisdom.And this summer, I am indeed at such a point....and I stumbled onto this quote and it suddenly put many things in perspective. As a mom I try hard to teach my son that his words and beliefs are valuable. As a mother I also have taught him sadly there are times you do have to stand up for what you believe, as well as know that there may indeed be consequences.And yes, sometimes the consequences are painful. We study and read alot of Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King,because they were the Masters of Troubled Times. They were the ones that knew when and how to speak and how to say what needed to be said. We have have no such Voices today to Lead or Guide us through these Dark Times.

Alot has to do with the Times that we are living in , Bullying has become a respected "Art Form". And bullying of women,minorities and people that are suffering is condoned and often even embraced with glib pride. Elizabeth Edwards attempted to explain this on Hardball to Chris Matthews a few monthes back as she battled Ann Coulter. She tried to explain to Chris that the Battle is that we live in a Culture where Certain People have empowered themselve with Hate. And I heard her loud and clear, it is dissappointing that we even are seeing it in the Progressive Side of Life. We need to be able to look at each other with eyes of compassion, not judgement.

I have had all parts of My Being called into question this year, and not just by Repugs. A Neighbor, a liberal informed me that my pacifist Buddhist side was not helpful in fighting this Regime, and this was told to me with a great degree of Anger. I was stunned. And she also went on to condemn me as an 'inadequate protestor", because I do not go to rallies or protests, the "Ones that Matter, the BIG Ones." I tried to explain that Not all people can go due to Health reasons or Financial, but that there are many that find other way to help Bring Change. I told her that it will take all of us finding our own abilites and gifts to make the Needed Changes happen. We all need to look in the Mirror and see who we are again, and that we are no better or worse than our neighbor.Yet we all are suffering and struggling.

We are indeed in hard times you can be called into question for being too "liberal" or not "liberal" enough. Or if you raise Concerns and your "Motives" can be questioned by people that you thought were on the same path. This is concerning and yet I think this is what the Bushco Regime wants, chaos on the playground. They want People not able to play or work together, because they are too busy looking and judging the Differences and not embracing What we all have to Work For or Towards. Divisions Created by the Cultural Shift created by this Greedy Regime. We must Embrace What Matters again, listening to each other, taking the time to find Empathy and Compassion.

My Grandmother used to say "Pick Your Battles", and pick them carefully, and you can "fight with words, but you don't always have to yell, you can speak softly and sometimes you can say nothing at all ....As long as you are true to yourself and what matters". All of us have been on a Hellish Path this past 6 years. But somehow we do have to find a way to Walk Together Again. Unity is about having enough empathy to know that we need to navigate the treacherous path together and not judge each other's shoes or trekking skills. And I say this because we have Miles to go....

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
[Please Click the TITLE it is Bono &MJ Blige again "ONE", it is a song about "Unity" Listen Very Carefully to MJ's Part it is Powerful]