ST Healing Love-IntoBalance October2022 - Flipbook - Page 5
I thought the other word that was interesting that you chose is that
your aspiration is BALANCE and I definitely understand breaking
from and avoiding destructive binaries. I know that my
aspiration is to be more open and less judgmental. And that is one way of
looking at my challenge with the word balance. Like mutual
exchanges cannot just be transactions, right? Although transactions are part
of the exchanges, it’s deeper than that. Well, then balance is equilibrium. And
this idea, that interrelationship, and this
relates to reciprocity again, this idea of balance is not just like
you have your level and you can see that it’s even,
It’s not this middleman territory where everything is compromised, so
nothing means anything. It’s not that either. It’s a recognition
that somehow my constant work is to be and support equilibrium.
And it is this idea that no extreme is the right way or the best
way or the only way so that there’s no perfect good and
there’s no perfect bad and that we are all different,
we have diverse contributions.
—Frankie Blackburn
Centering Love in our work, in our communities, in our movements, means reclaiming our sacred
responsibility to cultivate balance. Given the extreme imbalance in our economic, social, and ecological
systems, in many cases this means redistributing resources, energy, power, attention, and care.
This starts with bringing awareness to the balance of these elements within ourselves. Our bodies are
made up of space, air, fire, water, and earth. And each of these elements corresponds to our five senses
(hearing, smell, sight, taste, and touch), as well as serving as symbols for the qualities of our thoughts
and emotions. When I am angry, and especially when I am “hangry,” the element of fire may dominate
my system. Through a balanced diet, exercise, and sleep we can maintain a healthy physical system. And
through a balance between work and rest, mental activity and inner silence, we can maintain a healthy
nervous system. This is what self-care, the foundation for radical self-love, looks like.
Come back to our hearts. I talk with my heart. And I talk to my heart. I’m not
just speaking; I take time, and speak to my own heart. Sometimes our hearts have things
to say. These are not taught, not in trainings on how to do that.
—Lupe Renteria Salome
Being connected to ourselves, being centered, feels to me the key to connecting and caring for others.
The key to mutuality. If I am depleted, how can I extend myself to you in a real way? If I am hungry for
love, or thirsty for your attention, not loving or caring for myself, how can I receive love and care from
you in a healthy way? Without the inner strength of self-love, nor mutuality within my close relations,
how can I contribute to Beloved Community? And what then, will feed our efforts to transform systems?
Healing Love: Into Balance | A Brown Paper
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