The global weather of consciousness.

I’ve been binge-watching Jubilee episodes of feminists vs anti-feminist, modernist vs conservatives, and modernist men vs conservative men. These videos are discussing incredibly politicized topics and my experience of the vibe in those discussions from watching these videos is often hostility, othering, and a lack of respect. People are talking over one another, there is a high level of righteousness, and it does not seem like anyone is open to having their opinion shifted. It feels more like everyone is just waiting for someone to misspeak so someone else can list all the reasons that they are wrong.

As someone who identifies as a feminist, queer, and modernist I align in almost all areas of what these feminists and modernists are saying in these videos. I am committed to the liberation of all peoples and do believe that these discussions about race, gender, and other intersections of identity that have been used to oppress people are necessary for creating equity in our world. Having conversation about these systems of oppression and institutions of power allow people to have increased awareness that leads to real-world action that supports marginalized communities.

I come from a privileged background and am beyond grateful for the education I have been able to get around systems of oppression, history, and how these systems exist internally and externally. This is where implicit and explicit bias takes place. No one was born racist, we grow up in a racist society and thus take on these internalized notions around the hierarchy of race whether we know it or not, and perpetuate the existence of these systems because the bias plays out in the real world. I see this when we look at our prisons, how many young and older black people are killed for no reason on the streets by police, and how crises are handled differently when it is an African country at play or a European one. Serious effort and openness to learning are necessary to unpack this internalized racism, capitalism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, monogamy, and basically, all of the constructs that make up our world. And they’re all just that— constructs. Meaning people created these ideas, and it’s up to people to shift away from these systems that cause people incredible harm. And we get to decolonize our minds at the same time that we are decolonizing the world.

I believe it is paramount to discuss identity politics because the stories of black, indigenous, brown, queer, and any other marginalized group deserve to be heard. There is a massive generational wound that exists because of colonization, white supremacy, patriarchy(etc. etc.), and without giving it space to be recognized, grieved, validated, and reparations made then were not actually moving forward. No one heals from being gaslit, so acting like these issues aren’t important anymore because some of the laws are different reveals an opportunity for further education about how these systems infiltrate our lives and oppress people over generations while giving others that which is taken from someone else (google the Allotment Era, and on the flip side of generational wealth is generational poverty).

Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have, and I believe everyone’s realities are valid because our realities are also subjective. Those with privilege are blind to what their privilege allows and provides until they begin to do the work to unpack it. We don’t see the world as it is, we see the world as we are. I only know what life is like for someone in my body and with my identity, and therefore I seek out written works and first-hand accounts from people of different identities and circumstances of me to broaden my view of the world and to help illuminate aspects of myself and my life that are hidden from me because of my privilege. I want to learn. I want to grow. I want to see the ways that I show up and learn how to shift so that I am increasingly aware from moment to moment.

I was listening to a podcast the other day by Jessa Reed(who I love), and she was sharing how her partner has a theory of how global weather patterns are the physical manifestation of global consciousness. I hear this, watch the polarizing conversations in these discussion videos, and then step out of my house where we are experiencing extreme weather and getting buried in 5-8ft of snow that just continues to fall down from the sky. It makes sense that the world is so out of wack.

I don’t have a solution for the world, and I want to live in a world of abundance, freedom, empowerment, and community. I believe that the way forward is that we all get to shift. Our differences in opinion and identity are not something that we should resist or avoid, we get to make a change in this world and that change comes from leaving the safety of our echo chambers of opinions and finding ways to be in relationship with those other than us.

I want to be in a community with those different from me because that’s where I get to grow the most. I am grateful for my expanding network of people with different political views and identities because as we come into the community we are laying a foundation of love and respect that creates the openness to have these challenging conversations around touchy topics. I have shifted my approach from talking about these topics from the energy of 'burn the system to the ground’ and ‘eat the rich’ to a place of openness and love because I am trying to have productive discussions with people who benefit from these systems (with or without their conscious awareness of it) so that they too can shift. I’m committed to changing the systems and am using a new approach to lead with my heart, compassion, and empathy for those I disagree with because I want to bring them into this movement for liberation and not out of it. I also acknowledge that it may be easier to do this than others because I have white privilege, and this is why I also believe that it is on white people to support in educating other white people on these topics.