Sometimes “mattering” takes us out of our comfort zones!

Okay… maybe OFTEN “mattering” takes us out of our comfort zones! And it’s likely that, in these days, you’re having a bit of practice with this, too!

Let’s start by acknowledging that each one of us is carrying a lifetime of surviving around with us and that can get really heavy. Also – sometimes – outdated!

Let’s start at the very beginning. (Which IS a very good place to start!)

Here’s one of my most useful bits of inner luggage, attributed, by one of my favorite teachers, to the ground-breaking healer, Carl Jung.

The first thing we learn is that survival depends on keeping the big people happy.

And, when we’re three weeks old, it’s true.

Part of growing and learning, though, is that other things become true, as well! Largely because CONTEXT changes! (And, yes… I’ve been watching MSNBC again!)

And, we’re not three weeks old anymore! I got a big reminder of that a couple days ago when my son sent me a message asking for a photo of himself before he was two years old, for some work adventure.

And, wow, did I take a big trip down memory lane! Ultimately, this is what I came up with…

My son, and my dad, a very thrilled Grampy! A glimpse my son said he didn’t remember seeing before.

And all of this photo-hunting mission was going on while I was still waiting to hear from family and friends in the path of hurricane Milton… wondering what – and who – would be left.

Blessedly, my Florida tribe is safe and relatively un-scathed. Many more are not.

And I am reminded of the revelation that sometimes keeping the big people happy doesn’t mean what we thought it did, back in the days before we were capable of miracles like abstract thought.

If you’ve been reading along for a bit, you probably know I have a thing about limiting beliefs. And how heavy they can be! They’re also blessedly easy to identify, once you know the secret code! Here you go…

Limiting beliefs most often start this way…

WE Always — or — WE Never…

Are you with me? Here’s one of the ones I was raised with…

WE Always vote Republican!

Once upon a time, it was true. And, now, it is not.

Somewhere, in a jewelry box in Florida, there is a rhinestone pin that spells out IKE from the days when Granny worked for the Minnesota Republican Headquarters. And I’m utterly certain that it was Granny doing the absolute best she knew at the time.

The time, however, has changed. And I am editing the WE Always… bit for me, in my time.

WE Always vote for the candidates who think ALL our Littles – who they are and what they need – matter!

There’s room for a whole lot of us under this tent!

Last night, I worked some more on the painting you glimpsed as we began.

Specifically, I added the round bit of turquoise paint you’ll see, near the center, if you look closely. A symbol of VOICE. (It’s a chakra thing which I find helpful, even if I didn’t learn it in nursing school or seminary!)

And with the paint, I added an intention.

To use MY voice to help protect and heal the world our Littles are inheriting. All of them!

It is my way of walking the Way of Love. And that, dear hearts, is what the red flower in the bottom corner is all about! You see, I’ve learned a lot more about WE than my grandmothers had a chance to learn. And I’m all in!

Sometimes, “mattering” really does take us out of our comfort zones… and that’s where HOPE happens!!!

ps… get your in-stock copies of the book-baby, A Creation Poem… now! Our Littles need to hear that they belong. That they matter. (Just click the title/link to be magically transported!)

pps… yep! I’m goin’ to meddlin’! There’s never been a perfect choice at the polls. There are no perfect humans. But voting for a third party candidate with absolutely no chance of winning, or not voting at all – while it may be tempting – is actually voting for the ones whose vision is “Dictator on day one”. And they’re serious! So, PLEASE, let your voice matter!