Jun 05, 2020 by Renee Linnell

I watched only a few seconds of the George Floyd video and burst into tears, sobbing. And I asked out loud, “When does it stop? When does the fighting . . . and the violence . . .and the hatred stop?” And I suddenly knew: it stops when it stops inside of me. It stops when it stops inside each one of us individually.

The hatred stops when we stop hating parts of ourself, criticizing parts of ourself. The fighting stops when we stop fighting with life, when we stop wanting now to be different; when we stop fighting the aging process, or the traffic, or the weather. The violence stops when we stop violent thoughts like, I hate when I do that or, I hate people who (talk on speaker phone in public/show up late/fill in the blank . . .), or even, I hate my thighs. 

Shamans say each thought and each word carries either life energy or death energy. Gossip, complaining, criticizing is death energy.

Words like "love" hold life energy. Words like "war" hold death energy.

What are we contributing in each moment? Why do we constantly use words like “war” and “fight” about everything? The “war on cancer,” the “war on drugs,” the "war on stomach fat," the “fight against teenage pregnancy,” the "fight against poverty," the "fight to end Covid," or the "fight to end racism." We are fighting our bodies, fighting each other, fighting to get ahead, fighting to be right, fighting fighting fighting. Whatever we fight we create more of. Our minds are that powerful. Can we turn our attention instead to love?
 
Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see.” 

That change must start within. With all of us. With each thought, with each action, with each word. It’s fascinating to me that so many people have their faces covered, muzzled. Is this an indication that we are okay with our voices not being heard? Is it an indication that we are okay with our unique identity being masked? Is it an indication that we are okay with so much that makes us different being covered over?

It’s not okay. It’s not okay that we have been trained by the system to try to fit in, and blend in, and not stand out. We are not meant to be the same. Each one of us is meant to be unique. And when we try to blend in, we betray ourselves. And when we betray ourselves, life on this planet is not fun. This is why so many of us are depressed or suffer from anxiety. This is why so many of us are sick. And why so many of us are angry. I think the face masks symbolize that in our effort to all be the same, we cannot breathe, we are dying. 
 
It is time we make a change, on a cellular level. Each one of us is a unique cell, contributing to the Whole of the Body of Humanity. Each one of us is responsible for our own upliftment. Because only when we heal ourselves and lift ourselves up, are we able to hold out our hands to help lift up others. Those of us who are standing on a higher platform must figure out how to love ourselves, and how to feel good inside, so that we have the energy and the love and the joy to help lift up others.

And, I am telling you: Self-love starts with turning off all media that says you have to look a certain way to be beautiful, or have a certain amount of money to be successful, or hold a certain title to have self-worth. It starts with resisting all messaging that says you are flawed, or sinful, or ugly, or wrong. We have allowed the system to brainwash all of us. Almost every single human I have ever met (including myself) feels unworthy on a deep level; lacking somehow. This is bullshit and it has to stop, and it stops as soon as each one of us stops buying into this fear-based, lack-based, scarcity-based paradigm. 

The structures that dictate sameness are falling. The structures that support the few while standing on the many are falling. The structures that say you are not worthy unless you are a wealthy white man are falling. The structures that say there is not enough for all of us and we must compete against each other to survive are falling.

These structures must fall to clear the space for a new reality of thriving for all. As we understand one must patiently endure chaos and destruction in order for a rickety, out-dated old house to be turned into a dream house, we must patiently endure this massive remodel of our world. It truly is a miracle.

We are clearing space and ushering in a new reality. A reality based on the paradigm that as we thrive and live in joy we create joy and light and love that helps light the way for others to thrive, an upward spiral for humanity expanding into more and more abundance for all. The celebration of different skin colors, different languages, different foods, different body shapes and sizes, different skill sets. Diversity diversity diversity. Healthy bodies, healthy planet, love replacing fear. Each person discovering her/his unique gifts and offering those gifts to the world in joy; the way a tree must offer its fruit or a flower must offer its pollen to survive, we must offer our gifts--our unique expression--to the world or else we get depressed and die.
 
George Floyd is an angel who sacrificed his life in order to stop the world’s obsession with Covid and to start the dismantling of more systems that repress and segregate, starting with the police system. Covid and the intense effort to frame it as "deadly" has started the dismantling of the medical, vaccine, pharmaceutical, and health insurance systems. And as the masses discover they cannot trust the media, or the “experts,” and must instead begin to listen to their own Inner Guidance and what feels true inside their hearts, they will be harder and harder to subdue and control.
 
People think World Peace means all of us agreeing. That would be world boredom. World Peace is us understanding that each one of us is unique, that each one of us sees the world through a different perspective; and then instead of using our precious Life Force Energy to push against what we “hate,” using our precious Life Force Energy to turn towards what we love. Loving people do not start wars, loving people do not fight, loving people do not hate. Haven’t you noticed that when you are in love you want the whole world to also be in love? 

We all wonder how we can make a difference right now and the answer is this: we stop criticizing ourselves. We stop hating parts of ourselves.

We must take the time to look within and to change every single thing in our life that is not serving our Highest Good. We choose better foods and we choose better thoughts. We nurture and love ourselves. We start listening to the child within, the one who wants to play, the one who wants to not be so serious all the time. The one who wants to be loved and cherished and protected. We stop making excuses for neglecting this part of us. We stop waiting for someone or something outside of us to come love, or hold, or save this part of us and we do it ourselves, right now. We take responsibility for our own health and for our own lives, no longer sitting around expecting to be rescued.

And from this state of wholeness and self-love, we go out into the world and we offer love and kindness. As we love ourselves--each part of ourselves--we have more patience, more compassion, more kindness and tolerance for others. We waste so much energy trying to be different than we are, once we stop this self-betrayal we free up so much energy to heal. We move through our day and through the world at a slower pace, no longer needing to do and be so much in our effort to be something we are not. And as each one of us slows down, we can really see and really listen to others. We can really see and really listen to ourselves. We can hear our bodies asking us to rest, we can hear our hearts telling us to make changes. 
 
Often we are not willing to do the hard work of changing, just to make our lives better. We come up with all kinds of excuses, all kinds of reasons why “we can’t.” But, when we witness the innocent being grossly mistreated, rage moves through us and we develop super-human strength. Can we be willing to uplevel ourselves for the benefit of those being mistreated? Can we be willing to notice every single time we criticize ourselves if we know this is how we stop the innocent being abused? Can we be willing to stop being at war with life, with traffic, with aging, with illness, if we know our willingness to stop fighting “what is” helps end the fighting on this planet? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all tried? 
 
What if we knew that every single time we criticized ourselves we actually hurt the whole organism of humanity? Could we find the strength to stop? Could we look in the mirror and say, “I love you, you are beautiful”? Could we look at our bodies, these miraculous machines that carry our soul on this Earth Walk and say, “You are beautiful. I love you so much. Thank you”? Could we say to ourselves each night before we fall asleep, “I am so proud of you. You did so well today”? Could we, when we know we did something “wrong,” stop for a moment and say, “It’s okay, Honey. Let’s learn from this. What did we do ‘wrong,’ and how could we do it differently next time?”
 
We are such Love Beings that we are willing to cover our faces, impair our ability to breathe and to speak, if we are told it will help save the life of another. Now, can we be willing to peel off the masks, and to use the power of our voice to speak words of love? Can we use the power of our minds to think words of love? If we can, if we do, we change this world. Each one of us transforming into a thriving, healthy, self-loving cell, so that the body of The Whole Human Family heals. 

Gandhi also said, "It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence."

There are certain people who will be called to fight against. These are warrior beings, and they actually shove love into dark places when they fight against injustice and are willing to sacrifice their lives for others. There are those who are being called to use their words and their voices to speak up against. And you will know it is your Divine Work if you find yourself in true, uplifted, inspired action against. You will know it is your Calling because the force of love flowing through you as you do this overpowers the force of anger. But, for those of us who are not called to be on the front lines, we do our part internally. And I promise you, this is enough.
 

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