Poetic Revelations: Election Pathways

Body, Heart, Voice

Nov 04, 2024

“In many ways, your voice is as unique as your fingerprint.” ~ National Institutes of Health

Because Human-ing is harder than Adulting. This is a weekly publication for heart-centered warriors, swimming through this thing called Life.

Selected Readings (or Songs):

In an Hour We Live a Lifetime, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
My Mother’s Body, Marie Howe

Dear Embodied Hearts and Dancing Souls,

It’s getting real. I want to provide you real resources for the coming week, which feels like it will be trying as all get out.

First, Dance on Behalf of U.S. Election by Cynthia Winton-Henry and Judy Shook. Monday 4:30 pm PT/7:30 pm ET, Tuesday 1:00 pm PT/4:00 ET.
Second, this Substack article by Carrie Newcomer: Breathe everyone

My two favorite bits from each of their newsletters:

Cynthia: Make America Love Again (MALA)
Carrie: “I know that what ever happens that love is still the greatest power and that is how I will continue to orient my life.”

I cringe hearing mobs of people willfully distrust basic realities. It would be easy to blame the orange haired man. My question is, what do we do about the gazillions of people so willing to be galvanized and destructive? A mob is a mob because of zero inner authority. And my other question is, what will be mine to do in this new world? Grimly, I notice both of these questions stand no matter who wins this election.

Daydreams and Miracles. This Friday, as I cleaned the diyas 🪔 and god figurines in my mandhir, I couldn’t help but day dream. My heart naturally went to Diwalis past, the cozy feelings I had as a child watching my father do these same actions, preparing the puja while my mom gathered flowers, made sweets and the meal. My heart launched into another daydream where I imagined my 6 year old neighbor coming over, being part of the puja and helping us place the candles outside. Outside, my heart imagined a carpet of flowers next to the diyas to welcome Goddess Laxmi to our home.

In real life, before we start our puja, I receive a text from my neighbor. Her daughter had been asking about Diwali all day and wondered when we would put the candles outside. I invite them over. We got two kids (her younger brother) instead of one! They watched us sing, tossed flowers, received the aarti blessing, ate sweets, placed the candles up the walkway and played with sparklers in the dark night. After it was over, the girl ran to her yard, grabbed a bunch of azalea flowers, and tossed them around each lit diya. Miracles in motion.

Embodied Pathways. How do we truly step into the promise of our Humanity? The wisdom in my work is showing Body, Heart, Voice as a pathway. Our unique truth lives in the center of our bodies. I feel a line running straight from my belly, to my heart, through my voice and to my mind. When I sense feel congruence between my choices or actions and this alignment, I am …weirdly…unstoppable. Harmony and stillness pervade my heart and mind. I am willing to stay with the stillness to find the words to speak my truth. Words that honor my Yes’ and No’s, articulate what’s happening for me, what’s OK why. And the world becomes less fearful.

Share The (tiny) Voice of Big Love

My ability to speak my embodied truth makes the world less fearful.

I saw this flying to Michigan over the summer. A tall white man in the row to the right of mine began talking about Trump to his seat mates (both young women, one white and one African American). He had a loud indoor voice. He even stated the trope, “they say he’s a womanizer..(pause)...but many men are.” I became agitated and my monkey mind began to dance, should I say something? And What? When and how loud? I was so worked up, I went into enquiry in this moment, asking my guides to show me the way out of my agitation. They helped me see my agitation stemmed from a fear that this belligerent toxic masculinity was more powerful than me. But I was also shown the fear he held, as a little boy who felt helpless in the midst of toxic masculinity that no adult knew how to stop or intervene.

This let me hear own truth (silently in my head): Trump fundamentally disrespects women and African-Americans. I don’t feel that’s acceptable for a leader of our country. This is the power of an “I” statement: no one can mess with it. At the same time, it does not stomp him or rip him apart. My embodied truth is clear and direct. Once I heard these words my body and mind visibly relaxed. I no longer needed to find the knockout punch. I knew I could say the words out loud, calmly if the moment presented itself. As it was, his seatmates understood the man just needed to talk. They let him ride it out until they shared some laughs together. This was their choice—their way through the plane ride ahead. Still, by not taking his comments too seriously, they connected humanly.

Empowered Voices. When to speak, how much to speak, why to speak are choices unique to each of you. Use the pathway of your Body, Heart, Voice to show you your way. When you align with your whole truth, you are unstoppable. The other thing I notice about this inner knowing is how calm everything feels. This is the gift of embodying your Divine Humanity.

You, we, are not alone. This brings me back to the diyas. 🪔 This is the light that permeates your body, heart and mind. It is not just a light that triumphs over dark, it is also wisdom permeating through ignorance. This Light is in You, and with us. 🪔

Poetic Revelations: Election Pathways

Body, Heart, Voice

Dear Embodied Hearts and Dancing Souls,

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