Change starts at home. It starts with you.
Acknowledging parts of us we're either ashamed about, scared of, don't understand or just flat out don't like is somewhat a courageous step to take. To take what's 'wrong with us'; the flaws or imperfections we feel we need to cover up and hide and to shine a light on them, that's brave. Especially in a world that conditions us to believe imperfections are something to be covered up, rather than addressed and dealt with.
Humour me for a moment, because what a crazy proposition that is. Although some of us might wish we could skip or forget about a few of our tupuna (ancestors) between Io (the creator, the goddest god of gods) and us; how strange to think that part of our growth and journey is worth less just because we don't like it? How disrespectful to the notion of whakapapa (process, genealogy, origins, evolution), of nature even, that we think we can decide things are good or bad based on our current level of consciousness - which can't even comprehend what role each moment, each decision, each thought has in the bigger picture of our lives.. Seriously. It has to stop.
So, we should celebrate our ugly?? Mmm yeah nah. You don't need to throw a party about it, but 'you can't let go of something you don't have,' or in other words: how can we let go of the parts that don't contribute to our overall mission if we're too busy hiding them and pretending they don't exist?
How can we unbecome everything we're not, to make room for everything we are?
If the space is already taken up by unresolved issues; if we don't analyse our 'whole' selves and figure out what can stay and what has to hit the road?
That's like sharing (and even making it part of the national curriculum) only one peoples account of historical events; which paints them as liberators, discoverers of new lands and bringers of 'civilisation' to 'uncivilised' men - when in many cases, they were the engineers of cultural genocide.° We starting to see a clearer picture of it now? Different context, but the same metaphors can be drawn; being selective about our worlds' history has contributed to oppression, world wars, racism and everything else (it's a long list). Just like being selective about who we are contributes to; a false sense of worth and identity, comparing our lives with the highlights we see of other peoples lives and so on...
Hana, you're giving me problems - what's the solution?
Stop reading for a sec, search and play “Man in the Mirror,” by Michael Jackson, “if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change.” Or take what my uncle Mahatma Gandhi said;
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
If on a small scale i.e., as individuals, we acknowledge our own flaws and appreciate how they've shaped who we are and where we are; we can then appreciate and try to understand (rather than judge) others and their shortcomings or imperfections, and so the ripple effect will go...
I understand we might be reluctant to share our struggle or rain on everyones parade with our troubles and that's not what I'm saying either. I share mine with you to provide a real life example I hope you can relate to. What I'm saying is, acknowledge yourself - ALL OF YOU. All of your beautiful, struggles sometimes but figures it out eventually, got too much to be grateful for, glorious self.
We are the culmination of everything that has come before us, yep, everything. And sometimes it's easy for us to acknowledge the injustices in the world, when we view them as separate and unconnected to our own troubles. But when we compare the underlying metaphors and themes, we see that the problem is the same/similar; just on a different scale, in a different context. So, do you. Own your faults, flaws and imperfections - acknowledge and address them in a way that works for you, and watch how that will impact the people around you, the people around them, around the world.
Āku mihi,
Hana.
°I could talk about this all day; colonisers and indigenous people, “the systematic destruction of traditions, values, language, and other elements.” A post for another day perhaps, but if you don't agree with this statement; educate yourselves - and not with the books you've currently been reading or the people you've been talking to it would seem.