Getting in the Way

Now and then, in the early hours of the morning, while mi Reina sleeps soundly in the next room, i take a moment to catch up on email. i like getting in ‘the zone’ when i read. Now, it’s not just any email i choose to read. No, these are the emails i mostly skip over when i’ve only budgeted a short moment to check my virtual mail box—which is most of the time.

These are the emails that i willingly signed up to receive-- news and dialogues about war-profiteering, the environment, international affairs, spiritual activism, justice movements, women and children’s rights, and more. Accessing virtual loops of information served as opportunities to grow and influence. i like sitting as the sun and the moon share the same sky and let images zoom into my mind mansion as i read.

i first acknowledged the presence of the ‘zone’ after i realized that i had ‘learned’ English. The zone exists where i no longer perceive the written words, in whatever language, when reading. Instead my mind becomes alive with flowing images leaping at me from the page. Spanish and English acted like comrades from the get go in my mind. Spanish was very gracious at stepping aside and letting English take over, the longer i stayed in this country. Even as Spanish noticed English’s limitations, it bowed with respect as its stepped farther back of the stage. One day, after coming out of the zone, i realized that i was now thinking in English and that Spanish had found a comfortable place to sit at the back of the stage.

So I had one of those moments this morning: mmm, juicy.

i got caught up in the zone while reading a wonderful exchange of intelligent individuals disagreeing with one another. It was from a list serv on war profiteering. i got on this listserv because i got to co-facilitate a workshop on Mutual Mentorship as a member of the Nonviolent Youth Collective at a national conference called Stopping the Merchants of Death. There, i worked with staff and interns of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and had an opportunity to facilitate a session for seasoned activists like Utah Phillips (anarchist folk singer), Joanne Sheehan (War Resisters League) and Arlene Inouye (Coalition Against Militarism of Our Schools). Since then, i’ve had the opportunity to separately work further with both Joanne and Arlene at the School of the Americas Vigil and at an intergenerational gathering on Youth and Militarism, respectively. Mr. Utah Phillips, you down? i’m open, willing and flexible.

So, back to the disagreement that took me to the zone. It boiled down to the effectiveness of being against (fill in the blank)- war, for example, vs. being pro (fill in the blank) peace. This is a question that has been coming up recently for me. When doing a keynote and intergenerational presentation with Mark Johnson (FOR) at Seabeck Retreat Center in the northwest, someone questioned our position on the need to be anti-oppressive in our processes and the relationships that we engage in cross-generations. At that time, what i articulated as a response was that oppression must be acknowledged for the sake of those who feel it most, broadly speaking. And since relationships must be forged across boundaries of difference and privilege, one must do what is possible to counter oppression. This is what i said at the time.

Now, as the moon hides in the sky and the Sun dominates, i am beginning to look at this dichotomy, of being against or being pro, in a different light. The important thing about my argument is about naming the injustice and having a response to it. Many of the arguments backing the effectiveness of either stand are sound and do not have to be contradictory to each other. Countering, or being against, is one response possible of many. It can be a tactic to further the vision of global peace.

Since language is powerful and we know that positive thoughts and laughter are key, we could look at dealing with oppression as simply getting in the way. English did not counter Spanish in my head. It took the spotlight. It got in the way. When someone makes a thoughtless racist or sexist remark, i can get in the way of that downward spiraling mess by having a clever joke or comment of my own on hand that begs critical thinking skills and gives the thoughtless joker some space to save face. Using creative nonviolence, we can harness win/win situations that transform hearts and minds. Yes, yes, i can get in the way of oppression by telling jokes and stories, using art and song and poems, by dancing in the streets—at strategic moments, bien sur. This is how i can effectively be joyous and hopeful in the face of misery and despair. One of the emails named a law of Karma to be, ‘what you resist, you become.’

;) Good thing i found a loop hole in that one! ;)

!Thank the heavens for free will and choice of perspective!

Having solved that age-old question for the moment, i can move on with my day. :D