As the Spirit Moves Me
by Pamela Burns-Claire

Denial or Compassion

June 15, 2006

It’s getting harder and harder for us liberals to pay attention, take in the dismal news day after day, keep our heads high and get through the day.  There are times I—generally the eternal optimist--feel downright desperate, discouraged, despairing.  PJ’s post-‘Paree’ Du Jours entry depicts all too clearly the struggle many of us face on a regular basis.  If we get too much exposure it turns our hearts from joy/love/optimism to enraged and bitter.  But that doesn’t serve us so…guess it’ll have to be less exposure!  Even if I turn off the news, I get some 20 or so emails a day from the activist websites I’ve signed on with.  On bad days—i.e. I don’t have it in me to take on the world--I don’t open them either. 

In my field, we call the resistance to face the truth denial.  But we also recognize it serves a function…when we can’t bring ourselves to face the truth, we bury our heads in the sand.  There are days when that’s me—I gotta change the channel in order not to get swallowed up by the negativity that seems pervasive in politics. 

On those days I choose to ride home with Beethoven vs. Air America…I choose to focus on what’s before me in my own immediate world…my family…the roses in bloom…the birds…inspirational readings and beautiful art…great music.  Humor is a precious commodity.  On those days—which is becoming the norm—I ask for guidance from above to help me keep my heart open in the face of such darkness.  Show me how to make a difference and spread light, compassion, the spirit of generosity…how to promote the grass roots movement to rescue and protect the environment, to bring true leaders into our government and snuff out those who are about greed and corruption.  Help purify me of the negativity I may have taken on today.

I basically choose to rise above it as best I can…not to let the dismal state of the world around me BECOME me…consume me…I try to wrap myself in psychic bubble pack when I do choose to listen/read/watch.  Somehow we gotta become good news…create our own good news in small ways in our personal immediate lives…be what we wish ‘they’ were being, if only for the children in our lives and around us.   We have to show them laughter and positive activism.  We have to add the missing element of compassion in a world that lacks it.

No small task.  Necessary or creative denial, maybe?? I think in my field they call it regulating.  When babies or traumatized individuals become too stressed out they need to regulate.  Calm down.  Recover.  Need lotsa roses and music to recover…day by day.