A First Step Toward Power and Hope
Hello, shalom,1
An ongoing class that has been meeting for many years in the north of Israel met last Thursday. I briefly talked about old distress recordings of feeling too small and too weak to make a change; about the personal and general history of wars that left us feeling scared and discouraged; about the difficulty of getting clear, reliable information when we were young (whether due to manipulations of the government or simply because the adults around us were too frightened and confused); and about how all of this was being wildly restimulated now. We agreed that in that room (we were ten that night) there was enough wisdom and knowledge to end wars. (Thank you, Julian Weissglass,2 for that powerful direction!)
It was clear that discharging with each other on what is happening now in Gaza and vast parts of Israel is very hard. We worked on our first, or “strongest,” memory of war. Once we could trace that, it was easier to notice when and how early feelings of discouragement and helplessness were installed and to discharge them.
More than anything, our meeting was a good reminder that it is better to not give in to the feelings that push us to “crawl into bed and face the wall,” feeling alone and small, but rather to get together and share our attention, discharge, and think. That alone is already a first step toward reclaiming our power and hope.
For me personally, it’s been very helpful to get short notes from Co-Counselors I know outside of Israel. I’ve appreciated that they’ve been so honest, caring, and generous and not expressed feelings, perceptions, or insights regarding the current situation.
With love and some hope,
Orna Shuman
Beit Shearim, Israel
Translated by Orna Shuman
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion
list for RC Community members
1 Shalom means peace, in Hebrew.
2 Julian Weissglass is the International Commonality Reference Person for Wide World Change.