Intuitive Activism

When I share information on social media it is because I am expressing opinions and/or facts regarding something about which I feel passionate. I try to avoid falling into the left-right paradigm and I attempt to educate myself about matters that concern us all as human beings who, like it or not, share this space we call Earth. We all know that research and the results that follow can be manipulated to support an argument for either side of an issue. As such I prefer to read and hear the actual stories and experiences of people who have been affected directly by policies and business practices that come to our attention. For example I oppose Monsanto's policies and actions not because some organization told me to, not because of a study or two that I read, but because I know that by upsetting the balance of our planet we set in action a chain reaction of events whose outcome we cannot control or predict. The Earth is an interconnected web of life forms all which are interdependent on one another, and that includes us. We have already done so much damage to our ecosystem that we cannot afford to condone policies that will continue to destroy the fabric of life.

"The notion that non-human life forms are of lesser importance is part of the Judeo-Christian Capitalist paradigm and therefore deserves to be challenged."

This is a statement that I presented to a group of people that likes to address problems in terms of economic theories, class structure and numerous 'isms'. I phrased my comment in this way in an attempt to relate to individuals in their own language so to speak. I felt it was necessary to do so because I have witnessed the dismissive attitude that erupts when we start talking about the environment or about concepts like human emotion and spiritual well being; you know those things that are not scientifically quantifiable. I did it not because I am ashamed of being labeled as an environmentalist, or even an idealist but because I truly wanted to engage people in a dialog about our relationship with Earth and her non-human inhabitants. Two days later I have not received any response, nothing. Did I really venture that far outside the comfort zone of concrete conceptualization?

Funny isn't it that we all who are so fed up with a system that places money and political power before human need would be so obsessed with economics and politics. I mean if our goal is to truly break free from the invented reality that is so well maintained by the corporate owned media then why aren't we looking elsewhere for answers? If you were trapped in a well would you look up at the light to devise a way to escape or would you sit on the floor counting pebbles?

Meanwhile, in other circles there is a growing focus on spiritual understanding and expansion of consciousness. 2012 has come and gone and the world didn't end but the time for a new reality is here. There is wisdom and hope to be found in many of these circles and as someone who always followed my inner voice I am comfortable with exploring myriad possibilities of human potential and consciousness. However I sometimes wonder if some of these people are aware of what's going on here in 3-D reality. I can appreciate the notion of not pouring one's energy into negativity, but I also am not okay with ignoring societies problems.

Fortunately I have finally encountered a few sources who know as I do that the spiritual and the political are, like everything, ultimately interconnected. The words spiritual and political feel too limiting here, perhaps I could put it this way; the quest for enlightenment and esoteric understanding and the quest for social justice are not separate journeys. In fact they are perhaps mutually inter-dependent. Naturally we all chose the path we travel in our quest and we are all free to choose a different path at any time. I know I have taken some detours but recently I'm finding that my detours always seem to lead me back home to my truth, to my most fundamental understanding of this life's lesson plan. In my version of the truth, because we all have our own versions you know, there is no separation between the intuitive and the scientific. I have tried to apply myself effectively in the world of social activism without the accessing the spiritual, or intuitive, because I felt awkward. I felt that the people I was relating to wouldn't understand that part of me and therefore would dismiss anything I had to offer because of it. They would throw out the baby with the bathwater. I now realize that, as my Mother used to say "If they are your true friends, they will accept your values even if they don't completely agree". I decided quite some time ago that I was no longer going to sacrifice my personal values and beliefs for the sake of maintaining some kind of false harmony in my personal relationships; why would my social and civic relationships demand even more of me than that? I need to be fully present in my entire being with all that is true and dear to me in order to contribute authentically and effectively in these groups. If that means I may speak out on behalf of the rights of butterflies and nature spirits along with the rights of the two legged beings that live among them, then that's how it will be. If people decide not to work with me because of that, then they are free to choose another path. I'll be on the one with the rainbows and butterflies.

How Tommy Tippy Blew My Mind

Hello Readers, I hope today finds you well. Due to my political burnout which I addressed in my last post I am going to spending more time recounting my Hippie Childhood Memoirs. I hope you enjoy them, and if not well. turn on , tune on and drop out....Peace.

How Tommy Tippee Blew My Mind

Most baby boomers will remember Tommy Tippee cups. They were a brand of training cup that were weighted on the bottom to avoid spillage, by tipping, and they came with a lid with a sippy spout. At age 2 or 3 I no longer needed a training cup but even as a child I was sentimental about favorite things and had a difficult time letting go. I continued to use my Tommy Tippee cup without the lid, for at least a year or two after becoming adept at drinking out of a regular cup (or as adept as I ever would be)

Tommy Tippee cups featured a picture of their name sake on the side of the cup. As long as you were right handed, as were all ‘normal’ children of the 1950’s and 60’s, the picture faced you as you lifted your cup to drink. The picture was of Tommy himself, a cute little bear, proficiently sipping with a self-satisfied smile on his face. Chin raised, eyes narrowed he seemed to beam proudly as if to say ‘good job with the big girl/boy cup!’ reinforcing our recovery from nipple dependency.

One day as I was sitting at the table drinking from my cup I stared at the smiling face of T.T. and realized that the cup he was holding was the same as mine. This meant his cup also had the same milk sipping Tommy Tippee picture. And in that picture was yet another picture and in that picture another and on and on…Tommy Tippees forever.

I called my Mom into the room to share my discovery.

 "Mom” I asked, “how many of them are there?”

"Well there’s one cup and one picture”

“But no there’s a picture in the picture and a picture in that picture and how many more?”

“Well it’s probably infinite” my Mom replied casually

“What’s infinite?”

“It means there’s no end, it goes on forever, you know like space”. She said this as if it was something I already understood and for a moment I was wondering if I’d missed something somewhere.

“What do you mean? The stars have to end somewhere?” For some reason I imagined a large wall somewhere in space.

My Mother, being a clever teacher, replied with another question, “But what would come after that?”

“I dunno, more space?” I was reaching here, hoping for the right answer, for as good a teacher as she was I was prepared to match her skills by being a good student. Secretly in my imagination I pictured something like the Wizard of Oz dwelling behind that great space curtain.

“Exactly! More space on and on forever”

I would have preferred the Wizard of Oz answer. I began to cry. “But it can’t just go on forever there’s got to be something else”

“We really don’t know Jenny, that’s all we know” I could see my Mother starting to become slightly impatient. She had been baking bread in the other room and now seconds later she was trying to explain an uncomprehendable concept to a child who was barely into the concrete operations phase of development.

I don’t remember where the conversation went after that, I seem to recall helping my mom bake bread which meant I got to pull off a small piece of dough, mold it into whatever shape I chose and bake it in the oven. Baking bread is a great grounding method when one’s mind begins to spiral into the realm of fear and panic.

Regardless of whether that was indeed the outcome or if I was simply told to finish eating lunch and do whatever it was I did in those days, I do know that in the following weeks and months I spent many a night lying awake in bed staring out my window at the stars overhead wondering how far infinity is. And why no one seemed to have a reasonable answer.

© 2013, Jennifer Hazard

Political Burnout

My most recent facebook status: 'watching the news makes my head want to explode'. My only New Years resolution is to balance the information I take in with images of things that make me happy. Kittens, wildlife, tiny houses, cartoons, faeries, things like that. Images that can transport my mind to a kinder happier place than the world that is shown on television, online and in the news. I feel like if I see one more dead child as the result of a drone attack or a school shooting, or hear one more story about a woman being brutally raped or think about the daily mass destruction of our environment, the planet that sustains our life, I will simply fall into a spiral of despair and give up entirely. I don't know what that would look like, what form of behavior it would take, to give up entirely but I don't think I want to find out either.

A lot of activists I've come to know over the past year or two have become rather withdrawn in recent months. Many of them describe feeling burnt out and I don't blame them. It's a tough and often thankless task. There are rarely immediate results and there are no medals or awards, no pay no fringe benefits. For every victory a new issue seems to come along and settle itself comfortably in the space left behind by the last problem. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and war is endless. And to make matters worse there is a huge segment of the population who has no clue as to what's going on and wonders why people like me bother to walk around chanting carrying signs and canvassing when there is no visible problem to their eyes. There is nothing like the despair one feels when you have spent an entire day in crummy weather walking the streets trying to raise some awareness only to come home turn on the tv and see the news briefly describe a 'handful of college students protesting' when you know damn well there were over 500 people representative of the full spectrum of the American demographic. That pit in your stomach grows even deeper when you realize the next news story is a good 5 minutes dedicated to a sausage recipe.

After as many decades as I have spent on this planet I am intimately familiar with the cycles of enthusiasm, despair and burnout and I have learned to recognize the signs of impending surrender. That is when it is time to let go of strict adherence to political correctness and symbolic sacrifice. There is no room for perfectionism in an imperfect world.

We don't have to have all the answers, we don't have to know intimate details of every horror that is being perpetrated around the world on any given day. Doing this only makes our task seem insurmountable and strips away any sense of power.

Some days you just need a break. You need to laugh. I would say these things are needed every day, in frequent doses. It does not mean you bury your head in the sand and turn your back on your values and ideals. Those will always be there when you are ready to face them. Adding a little fun, or humor or fantasy to life provides the strength and life force to be able to utilize your energy when and where it is needed.

Doomsday...again?

December 21, 2012...doomsday? Or the Great Awakening? Or maybe just another day in the midst of an era of rapidly evolving spiritual and technological advancement.
After all my generation has already survived a few apocalyptic close calls. Heck we grew up in the Cold War, when every Friday felt like a close call as we practiced civil defense drills, hiding under our desks with hands over our heads in preparation for the big one.
I was 4 years old when President Kennedy was assassinated and for a four year old who sees the president as one of a Holy Trinity, along with Santa Claus and God, it certainly felt like a shadow of destruction was looming near.
When Ronald Reagan was elected president there were some of us who thought that signaled the beginning of nuclear war; he even joked about it saying 'we will begin bombing in five minutes'.
Then there was the Harmonic Convergence of 1987, which most New Agey folks felt would usher in an era of great Peace and enlightenment. Nice thought, but since then it seems we've been busy looking under rocks and bringing out all the creepy stuff in order to make way, perhaps, for a Great Awakening.
I really don't claim to know the answers although I am entertained my the numerous theories floating around out there, even if some of them border on the realm of 'disturbing'.
What I do know is this, our technology has evolved at a mind boggling pace over the last 100 years or so. I remember my sitting with my grandfather watching one of the several rocket launches of the 1960's (this was always a big event in those days, even in school we'd get to have the television wheeled into the classroom so we could all count down 10,9,8...to 'we have lift off') My grandfather told me the story of the first car he remembered seeing. He was a child at the time, living in a small town in New York. The car was owned by a wealthy and eccentric woman who was eager to parade about the town square in her new toy. Apparently she hadn't bothered to learn how to drive..who would there be to teach her? So she circled around and around the town center, probably at about 5 mph. screaming that she didn't know how to make it stop. The townspeople were rather amused at her pride gone awry, but not entirely unsympathetic and ran chasing after her in order to try to figure out how to stop the car. Finally some men ran to the hardware store, bought some sturdy rope and created a barrier across the street in hopes of trapping the rogue vehicle. It slowed things down substantially until the car finally ran out of gas where it sat, the object of combined wonder and mistrust, until someone rigged up a team of horses to pull it away. Horses they understood, horses were reliable and cooperative, not so much with the 'horseless carriage'. I loved that story for so many reason, not the least of which being that the heroes of the day were horses, but on that particular day it took on a whole new level of meaning as I realized that in my Grandpas life he had seen humankind evolve from horses to moon landings. I realized how overwhelming it must have felt for him and how it probably enhanced the humor of the first car story in his mind.
Now in my own lifetime, I am seeing and using, devices that are not unlike what we saw as children on Star Trek (the original with William Shatner) and other futuristic sci-fi films. Not only am I using them I have become pretty well attached to them, although I hesitate to say I am dependent on them, that's a word I use selectively. Nevertheless they have become an integral part of my daily life, something I would only have dreamed of as a child.
Technology has opened doors that never existed 30 or 40 years ago. I can have an instant conversation with someone halfway around the world. I always call it time travel when I do this..because it is usually the next day for the person I'm chatting with. The Arab spring would not have been possible without the communication we have available at our fingertips. On the other hand neither would the sterile, frightening reality of drone warfare. Any development is only as ethical as those who make use of it.
I can only imagine, and there is some historical reference to support this, that the Renaissance and the appearance of the Gutenberg printing press, may have evoked some similar doomsday predictions. With any sweeping cultural change, especially that which opens doors of communication and new knowledge, there will be certain people who react in fear. Change can be scary, anything that shakes up our preconceived notions with new information, even if it promises a better life, also brings uncertainty. Sometimes it's easier to be comfortable in ignorance that disrupted by enlightenment.
So are we headed for doomsday or the golden age? Probably neither, but it does feel a bit like the human race is chasing the car around the town square trying to figure out how to slow it down until we figure out exactly how it all works.

© 2010-2012, Jennifer Hazard

The Lovely Crazy Quilt of Life

I've recently returned for a much needed 'news break'. Of course for me a news break isn't an absolute avoidance of all news, it's really more like a news diet. I still watch most of Democracy Now in the morning and I'll catch some clips on my social media newsfeeds. My break involves not responding to the feeds, not engaging in discussion or argument with other people and generally practicing an aware detachment from the information. It also involved spending more time on pages featuring animals, gardening and tiny houses. This diet is healthy for me personally in that it prompts me to focus on dreams, visions and solutions; the stuff that hope is made of. Without hope I can become incredibly frustrated...and snarkey.

Now that I have re-framed my thinking into a much more peaceful state of mind I'm finding it difficult to return to my habit of throwing my two cents in at every opportunity presented by the incessant barrage of opinion I find online. I'm sure this has made a few people happy. Rather than reacting from my boiling gut of self righteous opinion, I am more inclined to observe and evaluate the information that is laid out before me like a crazy quilt of mismatched fabrics, stunning in it's entirety but if examined piece by piece the eye is drawn to areas that individually might cause a very different reaction. The crazy quilt in this sense is the prevailing agenda and generally agreed upon ideals and desires of those I identify as my peers. The individual scraps are the more complex questions that either cause us to refocus on the whole, or take a closer look at that funny bit that stands out. When we call attention to the odd scrap that doesn't quite fit the big pattern we are taking a risk, we risk becoming the odd bit of fabric ourselves, don't we?

The more reactions I see to recent events, the more I value my distance from any one group or culture, because I see people who I otherwise respect beginning to unquestioningly follow the patterns laid out before them. And I see them applying labels and categories to other individuals who may dare to call attention to the odd scraps. They often do this anticipating that the individual will follow the preconceived agenda that accompanies the title. When someone dares to speak their own mind, to express an original well thought out analysis of a unique issue through the lens of a unique set of eyes there tends to be a moment of silence and confusion. How is it that in our rebelling we fall into expected patterns of rebellion. Are these patterns just as destructive as the prior patterns of conformity within the status quo? Hell yes, they are!

I recently told someone that I no longer adhere to any 'isms' because I refuse to be pigeonholed...and besides I haven't found any 'ism' that speaks to the complexity that I, as a unique human being, embody. Even within the 'isms' there are subdivisions. Take feminism for example, there has been a great deal of discussion about the varied manifestations of feminism in this country. At their worst they have all proven to be deviously divisive, at their best they have forced us to look beyond our own personal perceptions to welcome a new scope of interpretation of what it means to be a Woman.

Things just aren't that simple, life is complex and messy and constantly evolving. Stagnant values may have the appearance of dedication and endurance, but in practice they get stuck in the mud, wheels spinning while the the real work that needs to be done keeps on piling up. Yes, we all have values and expectations and ideals and that is the fuel that, combined with passion, keeps us focused. There is a difference between focus and tunnel vision, however, and there needs to be room for healthy discussion, disagreement and compromise. If we decide another activist is coming from a certain theoretical perspective we run the risk of mentally running through the list of attributes we ascribe to that label so that we apply that scenario as predictive of his or her future behavior or motivations. It's really so much easier than actively listening to someone isn't it? Well yeah, it is...but the easy way out has never proven to be the successful way out. If it was we probably would have evolved to the point that I didn't need to be writing this.

A news break or disengagement from the political conversation, can be used as an opportunity to reflect on our own values, We can explore information about the things that matter to us, the things that inspire us and bring us hope. We return from our retreat with souvenirs and keepsakes that can be woven into the bigger pattern. Hopefully our sewing circle will welcome these contributions with an open mind and a trusting heart.

So next time you meet someone who disagrees with one of those fine points, those mismatched patches in the crazy quilt of ideology, take a moment to examine how they stitched those bits together. Get to know a bit about their history, their thoughts and feelings, their personal life circumstances. See the beauty in each sample of fabric that contributes the the strength and durability of the whole.

A Year in Occupy and To The Future

Anniversaries are like rest stops on life's journey. They create a moment in time that feels sheltered and safe, a place that is designed for quiet reflection and grounding. In this time-place we take stock of where we've been and how the past fits in with our plans for the future. In the past year of Occupy Everywhere all of us have cycled through many similar phases of progress, stagnation, questioning, brainstorming, reevaluating, renewal; on and forth and back again. It has been a year of experimentation and learning, all created by people who barely knew each other when this first came to be in the fall of 2011.

Contrary to what our critics would have you believe have accomplished more than a few things. We have established a presence in our communities and we have created new relationships and allies. We have brought issues of injustice and the need for change to a broader audience. We have sparked interest and involvement in people who previously felt powerless.

For my part, in my hometown, we have spent endless hours of planning in a tornado of brainstorm, circling madly around a center of Hope. When we have accomplished clear action it is often with the support and collaboration of another group or coalition and those bonds have strengthened the entire community. On the downside there have been times when committees, collaboration and alliance building has put us at risk of becoming as bureaucratic and political as the system that we are supposedly rebelling against.

There have been nothing but good intentions fueling this past year, but good intentions will only carry one so far; according to some they employ you as the road crew on the highway to hell.

Now when I hear people stating that echoing the cry that "Occupy is Dead", I disagree. I think that Occupy will continue in much the same formula that is has for the past year and that process includes continual evolution. Occupy is not dead, but as we move forward we take the actions of this past year and sift through the memories, the relationships we have formed, the conflicts and the moments of glory not all of us have shaken out the same results.

In all the retrospect and examination a few key gems come to light that prompt some of us to reexamine where it is we stand.

The election is probably the most obvious disruptive factor. Anyone who has been through more than a few campaign seasons was able to see that coming. Occupy, in original declaration of intent, pledged to steer clear of political involvement or endorsement. I guess the temptation was just too much for some and although most have managed to keep their political contributions separate from their involvement in Occupy there has been, inevitably, some bleed through. And like mismatched blood types there is some incompatibility.

Another subject that gets a little prickly is the level of involvement with other organizations and more importantly the kind of organizations with which we choose to align. There is hesitancy on one hand to collaborate with organizations that are entrenched in the current system and may receive funding from establishment sources. There are partners who would offer support and solidarity but will not fully agree with the principles of consensus decision making or with respect for diversity of tactics.

Finally there are some people who have either been at this activism stuff for many years or those who may not have been but have taken the time to learn from the past and their mentors. These people who are, frankly, weary of discussing the same cause and effect topics; we are the proverbial choir to which is preached. We are not abandoning education and public discussion, but we are ready to build upon the life choices we have made for years in an attempt to bring about real and tangible social and cultural change.For younger people Occupy has been a training ground of sorts, a place to get their feet wet and feel some empowerment, many for the first time in their lives. To us older folks it provided some focus and a reawakening of the spirit to move forward knowing that someone will follow. If other groups have formed, with varying levels of independence of or interaction with, the existing Occupy groups all the better. Those decisions are not a rejection of Occupy but an expansion and for some people they offer opportunities for participation on a deeper and more inclusive level. The beauty of diversity is in respect, not blind conformity. If we work in separate groups and continue to support and respect other we are are probably going to be more functional, more focused and therefore more successful in creating real and lasting change.

In order for us to allow the natural process of re-formation and branching out we must be self aware enough to recognize that we have for the most part, been raised in a culture that values competition above cooperation. No matter how passionately we feel about our cause, how much we truly believe in solidarity, we have a lifetime of learned behavior lurking within. It happens to the best of us. The key is honesty, with ourselves and others, to be able to face ourselves and admit when ego and competitiveness threatens to whisper the lie that 'we can do it better' or 'we thought of it first' or whatever nonsense it wants us to believe. It is after all that kind of thinking that is part of the mindset that got us into all this trouble to begin with. It is only by challenging that mind set that we can truly embrace our ideas and solutions and move forward to create a world that is more peaceful and sustainable.

Like all good recovery, it begins within.

Peace,

Jenny

Achilles Stiletto, Sex and Feminsim

On a chilly damp afternoon a handful of activists huddled in a small park pavilion to discuss Important Issues of the Day. The group was mixed by gender and race (although predominately white and majority male) and among the topics was the role of women in activism. As we often do we digressed into the larger subject of Feminism as it is perceived through the lens of each participant. "Feminism" as a topic is pretty broad subject, if you will pardon the pun, and the conversation was initially intended to pose the question of how to get more women involved in activism. In the process of brainstorming the conversation turned to examining potential barriers that exist which may prevent women from participating.
Ultimately these conversations frequently boil down to the same stuff, the different and sometimes conflicting views of what it means to be a feminist. It is both amusing and frustrating that most women I know agree that we all share the same basic desire and goal, to be treated equally and respectfully as co-creators of culture and society. It's the definition of what it means to be a "productive member of society" and the means by which this is accomplished that gets the whole movement gummed up. I believe it is our dualistic all or nothing thinking that gets in the way. That, and the most favored target of that kind of thinking-sex.
How is it that some women insist it is their right to dress "slutty" (and it is) and yet these same women look down their noses at their sisters in the sex trade? How is it that women, often those who are powerful advocates for workers rights, fail to take seriously the formation of worker managed unions in the sex trade? Why is it that a Woman's right to chose doesn't address the way we give birth when we chose to do so?
Sex and sexuality (including reproduction) is probably our most vulnerable place, our Achilles heel, or Achilles stiletto if you will. Personally at age 54 I no longer have a desire to dress provocatively, but when I was younger yes, I enjoyed playing dress up. I think there is far too much emphasis on how we dress and with whom or how often we have sex than on who we are in the remaining hours and days of our lives.
But it makes perfect sense in our culture that this is the ring in which the fight gets dirty. It is the place we as women are the most competitive, jealous and insecure. All the images of sexuality that are used to sell products are a training ground on the lessons of "how to get a man" which translates to how to 'win out' over the competition.
We are affected by these images from the time we are old enough to notice advertising, or catch a glimpse of Cosmo  in the grocery store checkout line as our little girl hands reach innocently for the candy that is placed right next to the magazine rack. Daytime television is packed with hour after hour of 'real life paternity testing' and women physically fighting over who gets the winner of said test, while the men who have been cleared of parental responsibility jump, dance and gloat as the audience chants "whore, whore, whore". The winner gets the babydaddy, the loser the bastard child and is therefore somehow less desirable a woman and mother.
What kind of a society does that? The producers of these shows claim they are only giving the viewers what they want, as if they are providing some kind of public service.
Ok so these examples represent the commercialized lowest common denominator of society and most of us activists like to think we are above and beyond all that (even though I'm sure it seeps in on a subliminal level especially in the early formative years). I'm even more disturbed by what I hear coming from the so called sophisticated echelons of society. The academic world has never been the pinnacle of objectivity it claims to be and this is especially evident in Social and Cultural studies. Based on my experiences over 20 years ago and what I'm hearing from current students, professors of womens' studies are not immune to their own personal bias and no matter how subtle the delivery, they pass those biases onto their students. And then there is always the Flavor of the Month, the favored theoretical perspective, of any given era.
Thankfully, I couldn't tell you what it is this year. But I can tell you I have some concerns that it hasn't yet risen above that elitist, entitled framework that has produced most theories for...well forever most likely.
By the end of our conversation yesterday there seemed to be one uniting belief that we need to talk to one another openly and respectfully within a safe environment. This would be an environment where all former beliefs and preconceptions are left at the door, from Jerry Springer to Womens' Issues in Contemporary Society. In order to be safe we need to walk through that door with open hearts and minds, and with the knowledge that we are in the same ring fighting the same battle...and we are not the enemy.
2012, Jennifer Hazard