Quote of the Week - Rodriguez

"Find a cause bigger than yourself. Personal trauma has sources in society, family, community. A full circle has to be completed: All personal healing and growth are to help you become an impactful, positive and meaningful person in relation to others." 

~ Luis J. Rodriguez

 I wanted to quote this whole wonderful post called "From Trauma to Transformation" by Los Angeles Poet Laureated Luis J. Rodriguez. It's a gift - don't leave it unopened!

If anyone knows the journey from trauma to transformation, it's Luis Rodrigues. He's made this journey himself, and he has helped countless others do it, through his poetry, his community center, Tia Chucha's, workshops, and public speaking. He is a blessing to all his communities and we are grateful for his presence and his wisdom.

Quote of the Week - Doidge

"The word heal comes from the Old English haelan and means not simply “to cure” but “to make whole.” The concept is very far from the idea of “cure” in the military metaphor, with its associated ideas of divide and conquer." 

~Norman Doidge

I heard Norman Doidge on a Guardian podcast, and knew I had to read his book, The Brain's Way of Healing. As a companion, I'm also reading Bessel Van Der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score. Taken together, they are powerful medicine in dealing with illness, trauma, and perhaps more importantly, in reintegrating our thoughts about the system that is our inextricably connected body and mind. Each book goes to great lengths to present the science that supports true healing in people; the science that intuitive healers have employed for all of human history, but which was sacrificed to more aggressive methods over the last century.

The most magical moments occur when we are at the intersection of nascent human understanding and those things we know intuitively and instinctively, but have never been able to parse or prove. As if Robert Frost's two roads come back to meet each other again, many miles on, in a concurrence of possibility.

Quote of the Week - bell hooks

“I think we have to remember constantly that shaming is one of the deepest tools of Imperialist White Supremacist Capitalist patriarchy because shame produces trauma and trauma often produces paralysis.”

~ bell hooks

Really, I want to quote this whole video at you!  This conversation, beautiful dialogue between Melissa Harris-Perry and bell hooks is filled with clear thinking, precise articulation, reasoned argument, and the heartfulness that comes from living life in service to your gifts.  I'm so grateful that this happened!

I just found out about Melissa Harris-Perry - she's so amazing!  If you don't know about bell hooks, you might want to find out!

I chose this quote, because the moment was particularly moving and thoughtful and because lately my thoughts have been turning more and more to the idea that we are all a series of accumulated traumas walking around bumping into other people's traumatized selves.  I don't want to think this way, but even scientific research seems to be supporting the idea.

If we can pass our traumas on to subsequent generations, and we never resolve them ourselves, it seems like life will evolve to be a very frenetic event for future humans.

We might need to change the ways we are changing.

Time to meditate!