Love asks more than Fear
LOVE asks more from me than Fear ever will.
Love is not passive. There are a lot of times when really Loving requires action.
In contrast, fear puts the brakes on and keep me spinning my wheels.
In the past few weeks of listening and learning, Love has been showing me my next steps -
Love requires me to encounter and address my racial bias - fear says avoid it
Love asks me to learn to advocate not only for myself and my family but for Black Americans and people who are mistreated - Fear says I’m too quiet to advocate
Love fuels my self-care. It gets me out of bed to do the practices that give me enough space to do the real, messy, inner work that is necessary for me to do - fear pulls the covers over my head.
I will not leave Love behind. Love is what compels me to move into action.
It is Love not fear that requires us to be more than our smallness and to be an asset in building the world as it is meant to be. Love must win.
I take a moment to let you know where I stand and where I am headed. This is what I recently sent to the folks who are subscribed to my email newsletter
First and foremost I want to make it clear where I stand:
I firmly believe BLACK LIVES MATTER! That includes everything that makes up a Black life: Black Dreams, Black Bodies, Black Struggles, Black Joys, Black Families, Black Histories, and Black Futures. It all matters.
Next I want to tell you I've been in a kind of no-man's land around my white privilege and anti-racism. I've known I have more work to do, and have been slow about doing it. If we were talking about my diet, exercise or keeping my house clean that kind of avoidance might be ok. But when it's racism work, lives are on the line, and moving slowly is unacceptable. I'm sorry. And I'm changing. I have catching up to do and I am responsible to do it.
Here are the concrete steps I am taking today:
Listening and Learning from those powerful voices who are choosing to step up and teach. I know that my ignorance is no help to anyone, I also know I can learn. Along with reading and watching videos on my own I am choosing a longer term course of study with other people that will help me stay accountable to doing the work.
Advocating - Specifically, I am part of a larger yoga organization where I am asked for input on the curriculum. For years, I've used my influence to lobby for more representation for women. From now on that includes advocating for Black and marginalized voices as well. I'm late, and I know it, so I’ve already started. This is one place where I can have a direct impact in the yoga and wellness world. It won't be the end of advocacy for me, but it's where I am starting
Financial Donations - I've donated to the Loveland Foundation Therapy Fund for Black Women and Girls. I know what therapy can do for people and I want to support greater health for Black women and girls. And in the RVA community I've donated to Project Yoga Richmond, an organization that brings yoga to underserved populations in the Richmond area.
There are millions of ways to to be involved in dismantling systemic racism. This note is to let you know where I am in this moment - it is not the end for me. I am not interested in looking better on social media, I am interested in doing better.
I am not and will not be perfect. Knowing that, I invite you to engage with me and to speak up if I am acting, writing, teaching, or coaching with ignorance or in a racist way. I expect my white peers, friends, and students especially, to speak with me. I promise to continue to learn and to do better.
Love asks us to move beyond our smallness and fear - Love asks us to be in our greatness. Let’s be in our greatness.