Grace, Gratitude and Going Forth

I went to a workshop on spiritual activism tonight at the UU church downtown, based on The Work That Reconnects by Joanna Macy. There were many aspects of it I found to be very powerful, but instead of tying to give a rundown or outline, I think I will just talk about the various things that really spoke to me.

One thing the speaker said that was really good to hear was that all parts of "the work" were equally important, so whether you were taking in foster kids, driving a biodiesel car or making music that supports a cause, the value was the same. So the most important thing is to follow your heart. I thought this was an awesome message because it is so easy to get overwhelmed thinking about how many things there are to do. I often get bogged down in this and wonder which project I want to turn my attention to or feel guilty about not doing anything for a certain cause. This idea made me feel like the couple things I want to keep primary are "enough".

She also had all sorts of interesting way of looking at things. For example, she called Gratitude revolutionary, because you are denying the attitude of not having enough. In a similar way, she talked about how the sensitivity many people experience in the face what is happening in the world is actually an act of rebellion because you are acknowledging your pain, while the "powers that be" would say to ignore it. She brought up 4 base emotions that might come up in response to things that are happening: anger, fear, grief and confusion. All of these are feelings to embrace because they are places action can come from. She gave a really interesting list about the transformation of these energies, based on what they are connected to:

Feel anger, but act on compassion
Feel grief, but act on love
Feel fear, but act on trust
Feel confusion, but act on an openness to the new

My favorite thing we did, however, was a "Smiling Meditation", which basically meant we had a smile on our faces during a guided meditation. She this was a Taoist idea, and that the smile could be used to send positive energy to our heart and then out to others. Well, they were pretty smart cookies, because we now know this to be a scientific fact. It was one of those things that was so simple and beautiful, yet it had never occurred to me to smile during meditation before. It also reminded me that putting a smile on my face can help me during challenging situations. I used to do this at work when somebody approached me at work with a question when I was working on something with a deadline coming up. I would "force myself" to smile, but then it would totally set a different tone for the interaction than what I had been feeling inside. I got to thinking I should be doing this when I am feeling challenged by a situation with Orion. I haven't tried it yet, but I hope I remember to!