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