Show up as a role model to engage
“We did not arrive on this planet to lead a cheerful carnival parade into the perfect New Eart Paradise. There is much work to be done before anyone will enter that promised land.” -Anton St. Maarten
Whether you awaken to your own spirituality, your need to take care of your mind and body, right the wrongs in society, save animals, reform businesses, etc., you most probalby find a yearning to share your discoveries, and doing so quite enthusiastcally. However, we tend to come up against unexpected resitance, since, “Why would people not want to change for the better as I have???”. After a while we come away a bit deflated and demoralised, searching for those who understand us. We seek out others who have seen the same light we have. When we find our “home” we feel safe, secure and comforted. It is a place where we can recharge and recover and learn from others on the same path as ourselves. The challenge now is that we have ended up in an echo chamber and we have confirmation bias all around us. We are a light among other lights. However, as St Maarten is quoted, “There is much work to be done…”, and the work is not done with people who already agree with us.
In order for our lights to shine, they need to be in the dark to help ligh it up. That is to say, we need to be among those that need the wisdome we hold, however much they may resist it. We are there to build bridges and create understanding and connection. We also, hopefully, learn along the way that our early exhuberance can come across as preachy and overbearing, which has the opposite effect that we are seeking. Also, it is not necessarily for everybody to go into the darkest of the darkness, but perhaps stay where there is some dim light and any light would amplify what is already there. We all have our purposes.
On my journey, I have come to understand that the best way to engage others is to show up as a rolemodel and to share my story. Those that feel compelled will then engage to learn more, those that don’t resonate with it, they are free to disengage without feeling they had been put upon. It is when we engage in these discussions that we learn more than we ever would in the echo chamber. Though, remember the echo chamber is where we go to recover and to share wisdom, which is why engaging with those that may not agree with us is important.
Being able to experience either side of the spectrum of light and darkness will allow us to experience ourself and bring our individual unique perspectives on whatever is our “light” to allow it to evolve, grow and shift, and we with it.
Photo by David Monje on Unsplash
