A balanced nervous system constantly dances between internal and external orientation- what is happening around us and how it affects us. It holds the question: where do my needs and desires overlap with the group and where do they feel in conflict? How do we come together in mutuality and reciprocity, each with unique perspectives and needs?
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These questions have been central to humanity since the beginning of time. Since we realized we need each other to not only survive but also to thrive. And that the gifts we have to share come from our own voice.
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These questions are often relegated to the realm of the philosophical. And even the realm of the political. But rarely do we engage with them from our bodies. This is a mistake.
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Who are you when no one is watching? And who are you when others need you to be? Whose voices and stories weave themselves through yours when you speak? What is your relationship with the earth? How does it (the plants, the animals, the water, the other humans) nourish you? What do you give back that is yours to share? How do the ripples of your needing and wanting, of your emotions, ebb and flow with the group? With life?
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Next time you walk through a field or unsprayed grass, let yourself take in the biodiversity- all the individual pieces that make up a rich whole, thriving through tension and mutualism. Then look at carefully cultivated monoculture grass- each the same, fewer bugs, less resiliency. Which is more natural? Which holds more life?
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The time has come to embrace who you are, and let that grow you into someone who can embrace others, too. Both for how you are similar and also for the ways you are different. For what you envy and what you celebrate. “The world was wide enough... for both Hamilton and me” (Lin Manuel Miranda)
August 17, 2020