An Eye for An Eye Leaves Everyone Blind. We Can See Further: To A Future For All
The more we learn about our connection to the sacred nature of life, the deeper our responsibility to unifying beyond judgement to imagine a future of thriving for all.
First off, a sincere thank you to those hanging strong as I imported my business email list into Substack and started full steam ahead speaking from the heart about my unique perspectives on consciousness, mysticism and the deep need for a serious reckoning with our current structures.
…such a reckoning that it’s actually better that we completely design anew altogether, such that we, as a species, decide to “just use these new (and old), better ways of being, living, thriving - instead.”
Before we can dig into the amazing possibilities which are being built every day to not only support systems change - but an entire reimagining of life, I have to share that I found a brass bullet casing while out on my daily walk in my typically very peaceful Chicago neighborhood last week.
It stunted me for a moment. I found the casing to be beautiful. It completely confused me. What had someone been shooting at? Why in the world would we ever need to shoot anything, truly? When we can see back far enough down another’s path, there is never a time in which we can’t see their experience with extreme empathy and radical compassion. Whether it be fear, deep pain or loss of control, there is always a point in time in which a perpetrator was likely a victim themselves, who lost their path to love.
I wrote this post back on February 24th, 2022, when Russia Attacked Ukraine:
The energy of judgment is fear in disguise.
When someone brings devastating pain or violence on another they are mirroring the deep pain they feel within themselves. This numbing perceived separation from love can result in wanting another to feel the pain in which you feel.
Eye for an eye is not aligned with today’s humanity.Retribution happens when we don’t see far enough down the line to when the perpetrator lost their connection to love. When they were brought down so low and so far that they lost track of the light within themselves that never burns out.
Love is alive in every one of us, no matter our life experience, it’s how we exist, it’s what we are made of, it’s the stars, our bones, the soil and roots. It’s the essence of our existence.
The systems which we have long lived in, without question, suddenly are showing their flaws, as the mask of war is uncovered to be no more than financial gains for the few and needless, senseless loss of life for the many.
The difference now is that we see it; and cannot unsee.
The challenge is how we trace the line of empathy through the lineage and experiences of our perceived enemies, who also can be considered our children, sisters, brothers or kin, who may have simply lost track of their inner compass to love.
Also, we can drastically change the systems. We are the systems. The systems don’t run without the people. If the funds, the guns or the trigger fingers don’t arrive, who is left?
When we see with the heart, we see.
Since this post, we have seen global devastation, atrocities and unforgivable violence to innocent families, children, the land - including the olive trees, a living representation of our life’s interconnection to the land - and sacred symbols of the people of Gaza. We have bear witness to beyond what we could have ever imagined, taking place on a viral world stage. These acts beg us to look away - to shield our eyes and more importantly, to guard our hearts. The pain, confusion and magnitude of these actions cannot be understood - because we don’t want to be able to understand it. We cannot comprehend what stakes, no matter the percieved gains, would make sense to impart such devastating, heartless, desensitized violence to another.
And, we don’t want to understand it. We don’t need to understand it. We can hold space and compassion for the immense suffering, while refusing to accept it as allowable or bypassing it. We can refuse to buckle to the inference that humanity is apathetic, unkind, ruthless even. That is NOT US. We are not any of the sort.
When I created The Blueprint Within podcast, our beliefs were stated as such:
We believe that to heal our outer environment, we must first heal our inner landscapes; with reverence to the earth.
We believe all humans originate inherently good; and return to that state when able to see past the human-created energies of fear and scarcity.
We believe that all the answers we seek are within, and with the right tools and support, the return to our highest BLUEPRINT and soul selves is exactly the medicine in which mother earth + humanity are seeking.
Can we see past the man-made energies of fear?
Can we see past the media manipulation which debilitates our bodies and renders us in a state of helplessness? Can we rapidly intend beyond the ideas that we cannot change or course correct, that we are destined to a future of violent, capitalist catastrophe, careening without logic, laced with the bodies of our innocent global neighbors, whose only “wrongdoing” has been living in a place in which someone else felt a sense of hierarchical ownership over - one in which, I might add, they had no physical way out of?
Judgement keeps us separated.
Even judgement of the media - or of the government - or of these global leaders leading these tyrannical affairs. What brings us together is unity. Higher states of being such as compassion, enlightenment, truth - and, truth as in the grand, divine truth - the one that our bodies react favorably to. One in which we grow strong in the presence of.
I have written about David Hawkins’ work in the past. I recently finished his book, Power vs. Force, which I cannot recommend enough. He created the now highly revered Map of Consciousness, while studying how thousands of people reacted, in repeated kinesiology-rooted studies, to various forms of stimuli. What he found was astonishing. Very simply put, he found that “power” or the energy of universal truth, makes the body go strong; while “force” - or falsehood - makes the body go weak.
Love, compassion and forgiveness; often mistaken as submissive or weak, are in fact, profoundly empowering and far more strengthening to the body than judgement, revenge or condemnation.
The higher that one’s consciousness gets, the more others are positively affected by their presence. One carries a divine resonance. People at extremely heightened states of consciousness, such as Buddha, Jesus and Lord Krishna, tested on the scale of consciousness at 1,000+; or enlightenment. Their consciousness alone, on earth at the times in which they were, was capable of cancelling out the entire rest of the population’s negativity by their sheer presence alone. Could that be how Jesus and various enlightened beings throughout history have healed people? Their vibrational resonance has a capacity to heal beyond human comprehension of reality and perceived possibility.
In the face of such atrocities, may we intently choose non-judgment, compassion and love - while standing strong in our powerful truth - refusing to accept the falsehood and violence which is so often projected with narratives and storylines which aim to “other” another political party, another region, another race, another gender, body - the list goes on. A false narrative that we are different, others are dangerous, we should be in fear. Instead of the truth - the one in which we are all the same - seeking to be seen, supported and sought, in community, in relationship with nature.
May we see the attempts at separation - with empathy - whether we understand the intentions or not. May we refuse the narratives of “othering.”
May we live in compassionate commitment to Oneness.
May we stay whole, operating from the anchor of truth in our hearts - feeling it all, knowing there is more.
With that found bullet - I wondered why.
Who was hurting so much that they wanted to hurt another in such a way? Typically it is someone who doesn’t have much regard for their own life who will take another’s.
I thought about the common phrase, “what is the silver bullet?”
The phrase “silver bullet” often is used to describe a simple, seemingly magical solution to a complex problem. Its origins can be traced back to folklore and mythology, where silver bullets were believed to be the only effective means of killing supernatural creatures, particularly werewolves. A verbal creation and reaction from fear stemming from the unseen world.
What if the magical solution to our complex problem is to return to our hearts, to community, to radical hope, compassion and love?
What if it’s a deep understanding of our heart’s needs - and a movement away from what we don’t need but has been prescribed to us since we were born?
Can we identify what our true needs are?
I have taken approximately 300+ hrs. worth of sustainability, regenerative systems and alternative economics courses over the past 5 years, inclusive of attending a number of Degrowth and Post-Growth focused events.
These concepts intend that we must move away from the mindset of exponential growth (which is, and has always been, mathematically impossible). Instead, we must move to a mindset and strategy of sufficiency, recognizing what we require for not just human survival - but for thriving. Ironically, it has been proven in many ways that “more” does not equal thriving, and in fact, happiness indexes have shown a decrease in happiness in the U.S. steadily since the 1950’s, in tandem with the wealth inequity gap, as you’ll also see mentioned below. So, the perception of exponential growth of the wealthiest nation has resulted in the opposite of thriving for the vast majority of people. GDP is not a correlation with success or happiness - and in fact, at this point, might be more correlated with extreme degradation more than anything else, if we are being honest.
GDP and Capitalism themselves have had quite possibly the best ad campaign history (read: propoganda) of all time. Other front runners might include “got milk” and whatever the beef industry’s current attack on “plant-based” is.
The creator of GDP starkly forewarned of it’s limitations - namely relative to the lack of acknowledgment of both human and planetary wellbeing within the framework.
When there are billion dollar climate disasters, wildfires, hurricanes - complete devastation - those add to GDP, for example.
I created the below mind map, which is a 2-sided endeavor (we will simply go over side 1 for today’s purposes); to try to map out what is truly absolute for human wellbeing - and survival. The opposite side of this up-cycled mind map is a chart of the current sectors of the economy, which I’ll feature in another writing.
Below is a summarized running list featuring the essentials of human survival and wellbeing when we forget all the conveniences which can corrupt our inner compass and cause confusion - all submissions welcome!
First, we must start with the absolute obvious, our basic Physical Safety + Security needs:
Physical Safety + Security (The Body):
Air
Water
Food
Shelter
Sleep
Clothing
Next, we go to the aspects which are not as clearly quantifiable - but important to all. These are the aspects of human wellbeing, which are deeper than the physical aspects and harder to articulate and measure; yet arguably just as essential to our health. You will see the depth and breadth of this list; particularly the extension which stems from Self Actualization, is quite sprawling.
Health and Wellbeing (Mind/Mental Health + Soul/Spirituality, Sense of Purpose):
Clean Environment
Access to Nature
Sustainable + Consistent Resources
Self-Actualization (In no hierarchical order)
Personal Growth
Cognitive + Intellectual Needs
Knowledge + Understanding
Creativity
Problem Solving
Autonomy
Free Choice
Daily Life
Purpose + Meaning
Connection to Higher Purpose
Inner Peace + Personal Meaning
Belonging in Community
Order + Harmony
Self-Fulfillment
Appreciation of Beauty
Gratitude
Esteem Needs
Self-Esteem
Recognition
Achievement
Social Stability
Belonging
Social Relationships
Intimacy + Love
Community + Network
Mental Health
Physical Security (Loops Above to Physical Safety)
Economic Security (Loops Below to Economic Safety)
Inner Purpose (Loops to Self Actualization)
Finally, Economic Safety + Security - which in most people’s purview, should be the responsibility of a responsible government. Capitalism kind of pushes that responsibility onto the individual vs. leaders - with narratives like you’re lazy or don’t work hard, when in actuality, the system was never designed for equity or ease for many groups of people, in the first place.
Economic Safety / Security:
Basic Physical Safety + Security Needs (Above, 1st list) are Met
Longevity of Basic Needs being met Feels Secure
Familial Needs Are Also Being Met (Family is safe/fed/secure, in the aforementioned points, 1 & 2)
Needs Being Met Feels Equitable
In tandem with wealth inequity in America, happiness has decreased steadily.
Given the above, here are some really exciting ideas which stem from the Degrowth and Post-Growth Movements to address wellbeing (while remaining within planetary boundaries):
Redefining sufficiency of what is necessary for LIFE; embracing minimalism
Regenerative ecosystems: reforest, rewild, regrow, create agriculture for all; everywhere
Local, decentralized systems: food systems, energy, repair shops, wellbeing support services
Eco-housing; rethinking community living and collaborative child-care scenarios
Educational reframing: ecological + survival literacy, wellbeing and nervous system regulation, connection to nature, multi-generational teaching + skill building
Community-based cooperative leadership
Creation of skills + needs markets; re-creation of bartering and gifting economies
From ownership to access services; ending planned obsolescence (i.e. buying things that have a “life span” and instead renting or borrowing. Eliminating the need to “own”
Creating wellbeing metrics + honoring ecological economics (i.e. earth’s resources are of extreme, important value - there are proper costs for water, land, soil, trees, which limit extraction - i.e. corporations who make bottled water currently don’t “pay” for water - and then sell it back to us inclusive of the micro-plastics )
Elimination of the need and use of extractive practices, such as fossil fuels, fast fashion, industrial farming, plastic creation
Work less/ LIVE more: shortened work weeks
Decouple labor + income; consider universal living wage, i.e. a minimum salary, issued by the government, with a pool of government or community selected and supported jobs
Incorporate trade + barter systems
Consider community wealth redistribution
Cooperative Ownership models
Design for human needs with intentionally minimal inputs
Embrace concepts of circular thinking and economies
What do you think of the above?
Are there any ideas which you haven’t seen before?
The other aspect of the mind map is the inclusion of Indigenous worldviews and the 7 grandfather teachings, which also feel essential to the recognition of right relationship with ourselves and the earth - which I talk about often and see a shift in worldview as essential to our consciousness evolution.
How can we see beyond our differences to unite with our sameness?
How can we shift from surviving to thriving - it’s not about more; but about less, coupled with consciousness and gratitude.
We are all wild hearts ultimately looking to be seen, supported and sought, in the way we see, support and seek others. May we find our way home, together.
With Radical Hope,
Marley
Looking for more ways to UNIFY?
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