jillsalahub

from Jamie’s post

What change do you wish for?

A cultural shift from competition to compassion and cooperation. A fundamental change to our national, shared approach to everything: the environment, energy, the economy, healthcare, people’s rights, interaction with other cultures, disaster response, criminal justice, animal welfare, education–everything.

Clean water for every person in the world, (you could help change that).

Improved circumstances for women, every one in the world, (here’s one way you can help with this too).

A general easing of suffering, in myself and in the world.

A focus shift at Colorado State University from attracting and retaining new students, entertaining potential donors and alumni, to serving the existing population, both on campus and in the surrounding community. More specifically, I’d like to see the model shift from growth to sustainability.

Other change I wish for:
aggression –> kindness
scarcity, poverty mentality –> enoughness
inattention, distraction, confusion –> wakefulness, mindful awareness, wisdom
judgement –> equanimity
suffering –> peaceful abiding
“us against them” –> just us, shared human experience
numbness, rejection, resistance –> surrender, open hearts, wakefulness

For myself, I wish for a relationship with food that continues to evolve into one of health and wellness, acceptance of my paid work or an escape plan, and further development of self-care and self-love practices until they become the norm, my full time way of being.

And finally, as Dexter changes from alive and well to whatever comes after, I wish for him the easiest of transitions, the most peaceful passage, letting go.

1. Truth: This presidential election will bring change, no matter who gets elected. The only thing we can ever count on is change, it’s the nature of life. In this specific case, the cultural climate could change, so might the economy and so many other “big” things. Things might get better, they might get worse, but we know there will be some shift.

2. Truth: Whatever is different because of the outcome of this election, it won’t change my core values, and it most likely won’t have a significant impact on the way I live my daily life. My dogs will still need walked, I will still be a writer, a committed practitioner of yoga and meditation, I will still love Eric, I will still do my work, I will still be a woman, a human, and I will still try to keep my heart open.

3. Truth: No matter who is President elect when this is all over, no matter what else changes, I will continue to work towards cultivating compassion and courage, being less confused and more mindful, doing what I can to ease suffering where I find it, and inspiring others to do the same.

One Wish: That we shift from a culture of competition to one of compassion, that we let go of thinking in terms of “us” and “them” and instead develop a deep understanding that we are in this together, we share a common human experience, and that we know that even more important than our vote is our choice to be kind, to love, to keep our hearts open and do what we can to ease suffering in ourselves and in the world.