Mirrors

In my two-plus years writing a blog, I don't think I have ever had as much trouble writing the next one as now. Yes, I have to respond to the astonishing tax bill. It is utterly woeful in its priorities and in the process that brought it across the finish line. Yet I am so, so tired of draining all my life energy in inner and outer protest to the way life "is," the way other people "are" or have been. Protesting people operating in an old paradigm is less important to me now than trying to survive long enough to see the birth of a new paradigm.

As someone who doesn't even understand why we humans use money at all, I guess I am not qualified to respond to the tax bill as a financial document or future financial reality. I respond to it as a mirror. It is a brilliant mirror, really, of the priorities and beliefs of a small handful of people. Yet those people don't "look" like me, and don't look like the vast majority of Americans. Their lives and access to power aren't shared by most Americans, or people worldwide. They forget that their actions were meant to mirror the bigger community. They are only allowing us to see them clearly, and that is such a gift, providing us with a creative moment of our own. What do we want to look like when we look in the glass? What do we want our society to mirror back?

It's complicated. All of us have different ideals. This is what I would like to think would be reflected if I were involved in creating a community, or even an "economy" -- its currency would be love, and that would be the measure of people and groups of people. These questions would shape the image in the mirror: how much does my life exude love and beauty? Have I been willing to do the hard spiritual work to become more aligned with my divine source? Do I do what I love, where I love, and with people I love? Have I earnestly sought to identify my highest talents and gifts, and does my community encourage me to use them? Do I honor the inherent worth of all people? Are wise people valued in my community? Are women's perspectives and contributions valued as much as men's? Are Mother Earth's resources used sparingly, reverently, and wisely? Are beauty and all kinds of artistic and personal creativity valued? Is each individual supported with access to at least basic housing, food, and healing? Do "technologies" and "industries" consistently help people and the planet? Do leaders understand the temporary, shared, representative nature of their positions? Is joy encouraged by this community? Is fear seen as a warning sign that love is missing? As people and societies, do we simply bless and release those who we are potentially in conflict with, knowing that actual conflict is pointless? (It's just an energy mismatch, after all.)

I bless these lawmakers, and I release my focus on the image in their mirror. It doesn't seem to me to reflect love and beauty. And I guess, for today, it's as simple as that.