We spend much time and energy in the necessary work of naming wrongs and speaking out in Congress, courts and public streets against the evils being perpetrated. This is a crucial work, as I said in the blog “The List for Resilience”. But it is only one step in pushing back the current regime’s attempts to normalize crime, corruption and immorality. The Trump/MAGA cult is actively normalizing violence, war, and ignorance to impose a new Dark Age.
To keep the lights on we must engage in concrete behaviors which counter the evils being perpetrated and re-assert that we do not belong to the evils. These behaviors start in the inner spirit of each individual and we must nurture the light within us to walk out the Good in our world.
I offer a description of the lifestyle which will help us keep from burning out under the current oppression. It is grown from our spirit within to our action out in the world.
A Progression for De-Normalizing Evil
I Commune with Goodness
- Daily and sometimes many times during the day
- I quiet my mind and acknowledge
- That I am a member of a tragically flawed culture
- Doubts and fears
- Limits
- Mistakes
- Self-protective tendencies to close off and defend my small private place
- I remind myself of
- Grace and forgiveness toward myself and others
- What is Good
- What is Beautiful
- What is Loving
- What is Kind
- What is Peace generating
- A Vision of Aspirations for a Better World
- I feel the kinship I have with
- Other people – I am a member of a larger family
- Other creatures – I am a care giver for the unimaginable variety of life
- Nature – I am part of the vast beauty of the planet
- The cosmos – I am a miraculous particle in relationship with infinity and eternity
- I let myself be refreshed and inspired
- I accept my unique ways of creativity
- I explore and discover more of my capacities
- Build skills by practice
- Discipline myself in routines of creativity
- (name what you love to do)
- Arts and crafts
- Music Making
- Dancing
- Research and Exploration
- Writing and Publishing
- Poetry
- Gardening and potted plants
- Cooking and Baking
- Exercise and Sports
- Mechanics
- Designing and Inventing
- Theater
- Filmmaking
- I affirm the good that I have done and want to do
- I let my inspiration develop into plans
- I let plans become actions in doing good, healing, creating
I encourage others by my unique way of reaffirming
- Goodness
- Righteousness
- Good behavior
- Optimism
- Connection with Nature
- Truth
- Humility
- Kindness and Respect
- Peaceful attitude
- Non-violence
I exert my influence and creation power to participate in corrective choices and actions for
- Humanity
- The Planet
- Spiritual Awakening
I love and broaden my tribe
- Try not to be exclusive
- Humbly join conversations with people beyond my comfort zone
- Open my mind to ideas for the common good
- Listen to others’ thoughts and ideas
- Help my tribe consider the new things I am discovering
- Influence and accompany my tribe in being open, welcoming and loving beyond its comfort zone
Growing and learning should be our norm
This is not to accumulate more knowledge and things, but to cultivate our minds, spirits, and characters. Growing and learning is not to get higher in some hierarchy or to gain more power, but because it is natural to develop and mature rather than stay small minded and ignorant.
Bertrand Russell in his essay “In Praise of Idleness” wrote in 1932 as conditions for World War II were brewing,
“The bully in a school is seldom a boy whose proficiency in learning is up to the average. When a lynching takes place, the ringleaders are almost invariably very ignorant men. This is not because mental cultivation produces positive humanitarian feelings, though it may do so; it is rather because it gives other interests than the ill-treatment of neighbors, and other sources of self-respect than the assertion of domination…
“Perhaps the most important advantage of “useless” knowledge is that it promotes a contemplative habit of mind. There is in the world too much readiness, not only for action without adequate previous reflection, but also for some sort of action on occasions on which wisdom would counsel inaction… For my part, I think action is best when it emerges from a profound apprehension of the universe and human destiny, not from some wildly passionate impulse of romantic but disproportioned self-assertion. A habit of finding pleasure in thought rather than in action is a safeguard against unwisdom and excessive love of power, a means of preserving serenity in misfortune and peace of mind among worries.”
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