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March 7 | Reader Contributions: What to Do

But first a correction: Today's entry by Patricia was Paquette, not Bishop -- Pat Bishop is another clear thinker and astrologer who has contributed to this series and whose name shows up regularly in my inbox. And here's the URL to Patricia Paquette's blog: http://www.pisces-chronicles.blogspot.com/

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Will the Real America Please Stand Up?

Hi Eric,

I've been reading your blog for a while now and I just have to get a few things of my chest. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your commitment to keeping your readers informed about the news that often doesn't get reported. I was very interested in what you wrote about what we can do in our everyday life and how it really does make a difference, whether we know it or not. I've been thinking a lot lately about responsibility, mostly the response part.

I was particularly interested in what you said about mental habits, because it has recently occurred to me that these patterns reflect how we respond to ourselves and they reflect our relationship to ourselves. I wrote in my journal just yesterday - before reading your blog today - that my relationship to myself, and I mean how I talk to myself, respect myself, and think about myself, is actually the original relationship and every other relationship in my life is simply a carbon copy of it. I realized that if I am out of integrity with myself - fail to honor my true feelings, expressions, and beliefs - that I experience this inner conflict (often unconsciously) as tensions in my relationship with others or as tensions in my voice, body, and communications.

I had been looking out there for answers when I realized (again, and perhaps on a deeper level this time) that I can only control the relationship with myself. I've been doing a lot of inner child work in my meditations lately, and I've seen how I often disregard my little girl by telling her to be quiet or that she is ridiculous for wanting what she wants; I've simply taken on my parents job for them.

I also wanted to say a word about what you said about how many people feel ineffective in their lives and how I believe this is a reflection of their relationship with self. This feeling of being ineffective is, of course, what the powers that be want us to feel: apathetic. The power structures that we allow to run our country have secured their power by means of a web of relationships (us), and we are taught to believe that only the ones at the top matter. That is the lie built into the system that encourages people to feel that who they are does not make a difference and once the program is installed, we make it easy for them when we keep running the default program for them. And strangely enough it is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's like what I just mentioned about doing my parents work for them, but in this case, instead of it being our parents, it is our government! In other words, our President fills in as the good old dad of our county. Yes, he just wants to protect us from ourselves - that is his role. But, for those who look carefully, they can see what lies beneath. We must break the negative feedback loop, personally and collectively, and start consciously making choices. Because the truth is just as we all make more difference than we can even imagine. We touch people everyday. Every face-to-face, computer-computer, or phone-to-phone encounter affects others either for good or evil. Every day we have a choice and that being said, when we blame others, we are simply saying others are more powerful than us and are unconsciously giving up our choice because it is easier than making choices in our lives and taking responsibility.

We must ask ourselves first, "how do we respond to ourselves and then how do we respond to others?" Do we respond to ourselves with the love of a caring parent, or do we, as you mentioned Eric, belittle ourselves? I am by no means saying it is easy to make this jump in perception, in seeing just how powerful we are, but it is part of really growing up and deciding that we can no longer wait for others to create the world we want to live in. There is a strong pressure to remain inside the boundaries of what we know and of who we know ourselves to be. This pressure has been historically known as love, but as we awaken, what we are slowly discovering is the brand of love we were given was the low maintenance kind, otherwise known as control disguised as love.

I mean, yes, we all need restraint, but not the mindless kind. That is what creating new structures for living requires - entering daily into the chaos of the unknown, like the explorers who braved the oceans to find the new world we now call America. I recently read that as the inheritors of the Age of Enlightenment we are now living in the Age of Responsibility.

And lastly Eric, I want you to know that there are a lot of people who are committed to creating these new structures; however, we are not on the six o'clock news every night. I do feel for you though. I know how it is to be an ex-pat. I lived in the UK for two years and never felt so badly about being an American in my life. I was there during 9/11, but that is another story. I didn't ever want to return home and was depressed for quite awhile after I did return. I just had a hard time trying to live an American lifestyle.

Everything was just too big and too much - it hurt my eyes! But the point is, as you well know, here in America, we have one construction of ourselves. Although, it seems each country you visit has a different version of the US. After a while I wanted to ask, "Will the real America please stand up?"

I don't know if you have heard of Barbara Max Hubbard and her project "evolutionary consciousness." Her story is very connected to Pluto, for she was so moved to take a creative stance in shaping the world because of the power unleashed by the Atomic bomb she witnessed as a child during WWII. Also, if you haven't already, please check out the Alliance for Peace website which is an organization put together by regular citizens who want to make another option available (besides war) to negotiate conflict for the US and other nations. They plan to institute an Academy of Peace where young people, law enforcement, and other public officials can go to study conflict resolutions.

This is not only good news for us internationally, but it also creates a means of combating spousal and child abuse domestically. When you think about all the millions and billions of dollars special interest groups spend to promote their agendas in Congress, it is a wonderful development to see the average Joe or Jane taking action in this way. I could go on and on with examples, but I think I've gone on long enough. Of course, I just saw a car bumper sticker today that said Impeach Bush and Cheney. After we've attempted to impeach each and every president that gets elected into office, we will soon have to take a look in the mirror. Our political choice can't be reduced to simply deciding what jeans to buy, and as they say, it starts in the home and through education, with patience, vision, commitment, and the true sense of just how much each and every one of us matter! If you give into indifference, then they've already won.

Thanks for all you do!
Adrienne