(Not) Seeing the Possibility

If we truly wanted to envision and create together a participatory democracy that enabled us to make collective decisions based on a mutual understanding of shared needs, I imagine that we'd find a way to do this.

But why don't we really want this? Why does the thought of striving for such change hardly come up? And when we consider what we imagine to be such enormous and challenging change, do we judge it as a fond dream, a foolish adventure or as a fantastic impossibility? However we may think about it, by our not believing that there's any real possibility of such change, we ensure that there will be none.

If we don't really want genuine democracy … this is probably because we're heavily conditioned by dominant societal beliefs and unconscious assumptions not to see the possibility.

Carried predominantly through the education system and the corporate mass media, we are conditioned by views about ourselves, our world, and our place in it—views promoted by those who, consciously or unconsciously, think they have an interest in maintaining things as they are. To a large degree, “our” beliefs are shaped by others, and we're led to think that authority and power exist outside of ourselves. We've become used to our relative advantages and comforts, and we maintain our expectations about what we think is possible, and not possible, in this world.

Conditioned into disempowerment, perhaps we must appreciate the scope of this before we can imagine what liberation might look like.

One place to start is by examining our judgments and beliefs when we consider the prospect of political change. Judgments and beliefs are like gateways through which our awareness must pass, moving into contact with feelings that we habitually avoid and ignore, and where a lot of our energy is tied up—in anxiety, frustration, anger and fear. (For more on going beyond judgment into the underlying feelings and needs, check out the work of the Center for Nonviolent Communication at www.cnvc.org)

Embracing our resisting judgments and beliefs allows us to open the gates of our conditioning and liberate the creative energy that's been trapped within.

Although getting in touch with the desire for such transformative change may not easily occur when we hardly see a possibility of how to achieve it, our experience of actually wanting it may just be what calls that possibility into being.

And, if the potential exists within us to create a mature form of democracy, then one might presume that setting our attention—and intention—there would call this into being sooner than if we were to stay turned away from the possibility.

As a critical act of social evolution, our moving from a superficial to a deep democracy would be a cultural rite of passage for humanity, and mark our spiritual transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Perhaps this is as inevitable as it is necessary.

What do you see?

Awakening Desire

I feel deep gratitude for the miracle of life, and for all the love and beauty that I experience in this world.  Like you, I strive to enjoy life fully, and enrich the lives of others.  Because of this, I'm disheartened when I see the degradation of the Earth and how, in our suffering, we hurt one another.  I'm concerned when I see signs of stress, disharmony and hatred, because I want kindness, compassion and ease in all relationships. 
 
As I believe that we are all connected, and that each one of us plays a role in creating our world, it disappoints and frustrates me that so few people are involved in making the decisions that affect the lives of so many. 

And I wonder about this political process that we’ve inherited and how it appears to have developed so far to serve primarily the needs of the relatively fortunate.  When I see how our political system—not open to meaningful citizen participation—does not respond to our deepest needs, and I see how we've fallen asleep in our disempowerment, I feel anxious and insecure about our future.
 
I’m concerned for our collective well-being when I see how the way we do politics now does not meet our needs for: participation, equality, inclusion, choice, contribution, self-expression, creativity, growth, understanding, trust, support, safety, stability, equanimity, integrity, purpose, belonging, empowerment, authenticity, freedom, peace and celebration.  Were these needs met through our meaningful involvement in important decision-making, I believe that we could more easily create this world as a nurturing, caring and loving place, and as a reflection of our then genuine gratitude for life. 
 
Because I know that we are fundamentally the same, with the same needs variably arising, I imagine that a political process that accepts and encourages the significant participation of all citizens would produce decisions that truly reflected our shared needs.  I would like to see everyone—who would want to be—involved in the decision-making process regarding how we best share resources and organize ourselves to meet mutual needs.  

Yet when I see how (understandably) disengaged we are from the current political process, how indifferent and apathetic we can be, and how distracted and absorbed we can become by our separate activities, I worry about our inability to meet the coming of further conflict, loss and suffering in a way that would be safe, and healing, for all.
 
However, I do know that the spirit of true democracy, expressed in the way we come to make decisions that affect the lives of future generations, is the spirit of love in action.  And I know that love is the most powerful force on this planet. I'm encouraged by what the human spirit can achieve when motivated by its deepest connection and highest reach, and I’m hopeful that we will somehow come together and change how we understand and do politics, and help create the necessary conditions for global democratic empowerment based on shared values and needs. 

I believe that only through social action aimed at achieving citizen-empowered democracies will we be able to sufficiently support and nurture the greater well-being of all life on Earth.

I'm curious to know what's alive in you as you read this. Is the energy of desire moving in you? Or are there resistances that have come up inside? Perhaps you feel both desire and fear, or hesitation?

When we get in touch with our desire, that willing energy starts to flow—until we meet those resistances within us that act to shut down this flowing energy. In order to pass through any resistance, we must completely embrace it in awareness.

So, what are our resistances to moving in this direction?

Working with this dynamic of desire and fear allows us to meet where we've become shut down in our disempowerment, and liberate the enlivening flow of life inside us.

We are all the same at heart, and I invite you to share what you find there.

Through love,
John

Welcome to Awakening Democracy

With increasing pressures and stresses on ourselves and the planet, it is growing ever urgent that our practice of democracy sufficiently evolve so that we may come to live in greater balance with the Earth, and with each other.

If we are to live in harmony, safety and trust, with confidence, ease and hope, and in gratitude and celebration of life, it's my belief that we will have to find a way to bring how we understand and do politics into accord with our most deeply shared values and needs.

I expect that it will become more and more apparent that a vibrant, citizen democracy, based on meaningful and widespread popular participation, is essential to our present and future well-being and survival.

It's my wish that this blog serve as a nurturing place for us to awaken the sleeping desire inside each of us—the passion and sense of purpose we feel in enriching the lives of others. I think you can appreciate that it will take a significant generation of awakened energy to reorganize ourselves to address our imbalances and heal the wounds that are awaiting our collective attention.

Through cultivating a shared vision of how we want to live, the possibility for authentic democracy opens up, and we expand the collective capacity required of us to create the kind of world we want to see. But we can only first take a step in this direction after we truly get in touch with our desire to go there.

Awakening democracy is about exploring our willingness to step out with courage and speak from the heart, and it is also about meeting what resistances appear to prevent our often sleeping desire from moving towards realization.

I offer understanding, compassion and support as we discover what is easy and difficult within us, and collectively awaken to greater empowerment.

This is a place of co-creation, so I invite you to share your thoughts and feelings and visions here as, together, we explore this path, and make the road by walking.

Through love,
John