Photo by Boudewijn Huysmans on Unsplash Last week I wrote about how you can’t change the world without changing people. For those of you who were itching to start proselytizing about your vision for social change, today I’m taking the lesson one step further, into the realm of personal growth. You can’t change people without …
“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”
Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash Cornel West is one of my favorite public figures because of his unique ability to embody both a deeply rooted brotherly love for anyone he encounters alongside a fiery righteous indignation at all examples of injustice in the world. As far as I’m concerned, the moment we are …
Continue reading "“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”"
You love to laugh, but do you laugh to love?
Photo by Gemma Chua-Tran on Unsplash Have you ever considered how awkward it would be to try to explain the name of the color salmon to an actual salmon? The fish would look at it and look back at you confused and say, “You know we’re not that color, right?” And you’d have to look …
Continue reading "You love to laugh, but do you laugh to love?"
How to hack universal love
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash For the last four weeks, I have been focusing on the theme of four guideposts on the path to a more nourishing kind of love than what is typically achievable without committed study in today’s society. I say “committed study” because I agree with Erich Fromm that loving is …
What’s self-love got to do with it?
Last week for Valentine’s Day I wrote about four guideposts on the path to a more nourishing kind of love, the first of which was self-love. As someone who has battled depression, shame, and low self-esteem, I’m no stranger to the impatient eye rolls that the concept of self-love is often met with. However, since I understand eye-rolls to be an expression of sarcasm and sarcasm to be an expression of fear, I take inspiration from Joseph Campbell, who said, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” So today I’d like to talk about what self-love means, and why it’s important to our ability to love in general.
Four guideposts to a more nourishing kind of love
The first three guideposts are about staying grounded in self-love despite the inevitable fluctuations and murmurings of our minds and bodies. Once this kind of self-love is being practiced consistently, and we become aware of how many internal obstacles stand between us and true happiness, a natural compassion at the tragicomedy of human existence begins to build. We begin to see that these obstacles to inner peace are not unique to us as individuals but are a part of the human condition. The recognition that we are all just doing our best with what we know in order to be happy and avoid suffering can be heartbreaking, and the only natural next step is to commit oneself to universal love and selfless service of others.
“My name is Nauser. It rhymes with ‘saucer.’”
I want personhood for everyone. Because of my white skin, I know that the threats to my own personhood are more spiritual than material. I don’t fear for my life on a daily basis. I don’t worry having about my rights trampled on and then being blamed for it. White supremacy hurts my Black and Brown brothers and sisters and nonbinary siblings in more material ways than it hurts me. My pain is different from theirs, but it serves to remind me of theirs, and to remind me of my responsibility to make things right.
Is your climate activism “just about white”?
Ending white supremacy is essential to combating climate change because the root of our nation's pathological state of denial is found in the origins of white supremacy. White climate and environmental activists for too long have said that the environment is a more pressing concern, which might be true if it were possible to address it without first addressing white supremacy, but it is not. Fixing the climate crisis without first addressing racism is like trying to stage a mutiny on a slave ship without first freeing the slaves. It makes no sense, it's delusional, and it comes from a mindset of unexamined denial and white supremacy thinking.
Trust, faith, letting go, etc
“Everything good that happens to you in life happens because of the way you behave. Everything great that happens to you in life happens because of the way you behave when things aren't fair.” - Andy Andrews “Acceptance is the key to happiness.” - Art of Living Foundation We go through life with desires and expectations …
The 4 (+1) sources of prana
This weekend I’m participating in a silent meditation course with the Art of Living Foundation in Santa Clara, California. I first began studying breath and meditation with the Art of Living in January 2012, and I took my first silence course in February 2012. As I prepare for this weekend, I thought I’d share with …