Outcries for justice and “enough already” pervade the psyche of the nation and the world.

The word “racism” seems to have become a trigger word for people of all races, those who have historically been a target of racial biases, those who have been bystanders as well as upstanders, and even those who may perpetuate it willingly or even unconsciously, at times.

Racism is a form of division, which creates conflict. Connection brings peace. We either add to the great divide or create more connectivity.

The hand would not argue with the elbow or the shin. We are the same as a collective body. Each part contributes to the function of the whole.

The change we seek must start with ourselves, each and every one.

Every societal story has its roots in the collective. As members of the collective, we can start to unravel the knots of injustice by being just with ourselves and with those in our immediate purview—family, friends, and community. This has a ripple effect unbeknownst in common hours.

Where are we personally conflicted? Where do we personally judge others? Ourselves?

Observe the answers. Write them down. Make a mental note.

Like monsters hiding under the bed or in the closet, they can disappear when we turn on the light of awareness. So much turmoil begins and ends in our heads; and when we simply look at our thinking, our thinking starts to change.

>> Where do we harbor anger or resentment? What actions can be taken? Take them. Have that conversation, for example—without attachment to the outcome. Forgive.

>> Aim to have nothing between you and anybody else. And I mean nothing. Do you desire stress or peace? A past situation cannot be changed, but how you look at it can. And there are always takeaways, something to learn, a character trait to strengthen.

>> If you need to make restitution in any way, just do so. Or, simply resolve to do better next time. And forgive yourself. 

>> Finally, give to another what you wished you would have received. Is it time, or acknowledgment in some way? Then give to yourself the same.

We only get the world right when we are right within ourselves.

Otherwise, a critical mass is reached within our psyche, and an external event erupts to show ourselves to ourselves.

We each must look in the mirror to see what distortions we’ve projected out onto the screen of our lives, and then get busy cleaning our little corners of the glass. Only then will our true reflections be mirrored in our own lives and in the world.

~
Watch an anti-racism hour with Jane Elliott talking with Waylon Lewis of Elephant, here.