Walking down the street this week, I passed a man who stopped, gawked, turned around on his bike, circled me and catcalled. I instantly did a safety check, followed by an angry internal rant:
Are there other people around?
Is he on drugs?
Could he be armed?
Am I safe?
What is wrong with people? Why is this happening to me...again? I would never do anything like this
I walked away, fine, but shaken up and irritated that this is a daily occurrence for so many women.
And as I walked away, I connected back to my breath and calmed my nervous system; the anger slowly turned into love. The kind of love that you have to work at. The kind of love that takes effort to find, but love nonetheless.
It is easy to find love and oneness when we’re in a beautiful room surrounded by spiritually connected people who provide a bright shiny reflection of ourselves. It’s the reflection we want to see, but the real work is finding the oneness in the most challenging moments...
When we’re deep in a disagreement with our partners, friends, parents, etc.
When we get cut off in traffic
When we see someone hurting the ones we love
When we see social injustice
The moments are seemingly endless…
This week we’re present to finding the oneness when it’s exceptionally hard, digging deep and finding the love and connection rather than focusing on the hate. Taking a moment to connect to this person’s heart and find understanding of their pain rather than generating more hate and anger.
We don’t have to be in agreement to find the love, we just have to understand.
Eckhart Tolle says is so beautifully:
“Love is the recognition of oneness in the world of duality”
Where can you find a little more love this week?
So Jaime, this a very different reaction to a cat call - from way back in 1963. I was walking several blocks to my friend's house. A car went by and there was a honk and a whistle. You have to keep this in context. I was 13 yrs. old. I felt on top of the world walking with my young malamut dog on the way to my friends house. When I heard the cat call and whistles I felt thrilled. I was confident, proud and happy in my life. I did not percieve a threat. I did not think it was a negative comment. It was the last time I can remenber that feeling of innocence and confiden…