Earlier this year, I wrote about emotional sustenance through political alignment. The theme of how my politics serve me personally has since been revisited, prompted by:
Officially launching Creative Spirit Work in July
Becoming a Global Studies major in college in August and
Becoming more connected to the struggles in Palestine, Sudan, Haiti, The Congo, and various countries shaped by colonization and oppression since October
There was something in the air this Spring - the true new year settling in, I suppose. Watering parts of me that had gone too long without being properly nourished. Leaving clues to where I was headed, even as I held on to relationships and rationalities that led in the opposite direction - things I would later let go of with certainty because they forced me to betray myself not only spiritually, but politically. These were choices not about morality, but rather authenticity.
This year, I refined my mission for Walking the Path by focusing on content I hoped would offer helpful perspective as you take this life-long journey of self-discovery and create a spiritual practice that supports the authentic, holistic embodiment of who you are. I can only tell ya’ll about what I’m experiencing and that has been the essence of it — getting to the chapter where I realized it’s more about embodying who I truly am and getting better at living that in that truth vs. always trying to ascend and being in a constant state of personal development. While ascension and personal development are a part of the journey, I am no longer chasing that non-stop in an effort to prove my worth.
I got to this point by accepting that this life is a work in progress. I am always changing and expanding, leading with Spirit and ancestral guidance…yet within that evolution, there is a part of me that remains unchanged. The core of my nature, containing my source code. The seed that holds all of the information. Who I was born to be in this lifetime, on this planet, at this point in my lineage. Proof of my worth, immaculate conception.
Within my source code is a program called ‘Giving a Fuck About My Community’. It includes the wisdom that my community is not just the people I am in close physical proximity to. This part of me will never change or go away, it will only ever be updated to reflect the refinement I undergo in this life. I have underutilized it at times and I have made errors in application - but I was never without it.
So when I say that solidarity is spiritual, I mean that for me to commit to the spiritual assignment of embodying the purest, most authentic version of myself…I have to actively run the program that makes me give a fuck about my community. I have to commit to solidarity. I know what I’m feeling is spiritual alignment when I’m with my comrades. When I’m bearing witness to oppression and everything in me is screaming to resist. When I’m creating things that provoke others to think about causes that move me.
I am not easily moved. I have done a lot of work within myself not to be yanked around emotionally or siphoned energetically by headlines or people - I’ve done a lot to make sure I am not the person doing those things to others unknowingly. That means when I do anything related to the causes I care about, I am grounded. I am acting because I care and I care because I’m me.
Beyond these activations, there is so much work to be done. So much more to discover about myself, this planet, which I think of as really just another seed…and the worlds I have to build. Some of you may have the same ‘Giving A Fuck About My Community’ program in your source code that I do or a variation of it. I believe if you search your heart and inquire within, you will know if you have it or not. Because that’s the thing: when people join movements and their heart really isn’t in it…everyone would have been better off if they had just been real — if they knew themselves and were committed to being their authentic selves.
So some of you have the program and are running it actively. You’re my people. Some may have it downloaded, but it hasn’t been installed. Some don’t run it very often because it doesn’t help them serve short-sighted, selfish interests. Some might have moved it to the recycling bin so they could be supervillains in this lifetime; who knows.
But if you find you do have the program…get with the program. Ask yourself: am I really utilizing this part of myself? Maybe you need some tutorials, study the people and organizations with ideologies that match your own. Make connections between your spiritual path and how it has historically coincided with oppression and resistance. Maybe you need to do an update by putting what you’ve learned to the test and consciously building with your community members - how are you showing up for the oppressed people in your city and state? Do you know of their plights? If not, why? If you are committed to your self-discovery and your spiritual path, find out what your role is right now when it comes to solidarity. Do it on purpose. See what you’re really made of.
It’s not about saving everyone in a fucked up situation, it’s about being real with yourself about who you are. It’s not just about what you’re here to contribute to your community, but what you need to withdraw from it as well. This is spiritual work, look to your 11th house in your astrology charts. Connect the dots, don’t think what is happening at this moment in time doesn’t affect you. In one way or another, it does. You don’t need to perform solidarity the way anyone else does, but you should at least know where you stand and why.
I challenge you to integrate these questions into the way you live every day instead of thinking there are one or two things you need to do right now and in a few weeks or months, you won’t have to think about it anymore. I challenge you to acknowledge your privilege in getting to decide whether or not you engage because you have stability that is paid for in part by the oppression of others. I challenge you to use the spiritual tools you have been collecting to get a true understanding of the character you embody in the story that is unfolding across the planet we live on. Is the story you’re living out getting you closer to your most authentic self or not?
The Solidarity Atelier, a digital workspace for liberation-centered world-building, is open. Comment or DM me on Instagram or Twitter for the link.