The Heart's Response ...
Dear Friends,
One of the beauties of social media is that it gives us information … AND one of the dangers is that it keeps us stagnant.
What do we do after reading something concerning or moving?
Go to the next image or video of course.
Social media is built for addiction, not action.
There is a great interview between John Stewart and Noble Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa where she talks about the rise of authoritarian regimes.
Ressa says studies show that lies online spread six times faster than truth, and that if you “use fear, anger and hate it spreads virally.”
And this is what authoritarian regimes try to do: destroy truth.
Now, every age has challenges, and we can sit around and complain (and that may have a place for a short time) … but at some point we can inquire:
“This moment is what it is, what might it be here to teach me?”
So I thought for the month of April, for our donation series, every Friday at 9am PST (noon EST, 6 PM CET) we will gather to explore this question.
If you prefer to continue reading the news without taking action, that is of course an option … but if you want to join an inquiry into the teaching of this moment, please join us.
We will have some guests, but mainly it is about deep curiosity and inquiry.
We will explore the shift from:
‘This should not be happening” … to
“Given this is happening, WHAT IS MY HEART’S RESPONSE?”
This may not feel right to everyone, but if it does, please join us.
RESERVE YOUR SPOT »»» (By Donation)
In this spirit, I am reminded of Viktor Frankl’s quote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
I hope you can join us!
Blessings,
Thank you for this Jon Steward interview with Maria Ressa who has lived through the fall of democracy and telIs the truth like it is. I realize If Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert helped me navigate the insanity of the pandemic and the rage response of our leaders, surely we can find wisdom in these men who speak facts in funny wise ways during this period of insanity.
I also like the inquiry : "if this is happening FOR me and not TO me, what then...."
* This came from a Kelly Noonan Gores podcast during which she shares her story of losing her home in the Palisades Fire and her "disaster recovery lessons." Thank you to all merchants of hope and the communities we find together.
Thank you, Soren, for your beautiful, wise writing. You always get to the Heart of the matter. So grateful.