Its just mid-week and I got so busy that I couldn't finish my weekly news letter and release it in time for Tuesday night. As I sat and looked at my calendar yesterday I couldn't see time available to complete and review. I took a long breath and said "oh well - it will just have to go out later".
Yesterday was a crazy packed day and in between it I had an unexpected call from a friend. We don't know each other well but we are getting to know each other more. She had a question for me and that grew to a longer call than either of us intended. It wouldn't have been so long but she brought up a point I had made in a prior newsletter about having discussions about our differences and being able to talk about it. She said that she knew we had a different view on politics but she felt she could safely share that with me...without judgement.
Now I will have to admit I was a bit taken aback because I made an assumption about her; mainly based off of what I know about her personally and on social media posts. But we know when we make assumptions that we may be wrong; so she shared with me she is a Trump supporter. She calmly explained her points and why she felt as she did. We had a long talk listening to each others points and we also saw where we have common interests. Never once did we name call, yell or blame. We just stated facts and issues we had and how we drew our choices on candidates. I will say that we also admitted that neither party or candidate is perfect. We don't 100% care for everything in either party. We also don't have all the answers either. She also shared how she has lost friends because of her views; many wouldn't talk to her they just blocked her entirely.
I had an experience myself months ago with a friend who put up her views supporting Trump as well as not wanting to wearing a face mask. I responded (something I don't often do because I hate the way we bully people on social media) and I had people I didn't know replying back with words like "liberal" or "bitchy" to justify their argument. I replied back to my first point and said if you read it again I didn't say what they were claiming I did. I restated again and still got back a nasty reply. I was just about to hit "unfriend" but then felt that wouldn't solve anything; as much as I had wished my friend stepped in and told her friends to please stop with the hate, she wasn't to blame for their comments. I just stopped participating in the argument. Don't get me wrong there are times when we should unfriend or not have someone in your life. Each person has to make that decision and I certainly have done this with people who were toxic in my life.
Why do I mention all this as it associates to yoga? Because yoga is more than a physical practice. It is deeply rooted in philosophy which is... life. There are different paths in yoga that don't have anything to do with asana. Some are deeply devoted to a practice called "Jnana yoga" (path of knowledge) and studying the facts of things. I would say this friend and I did this yesterday and weren't looking to be right or change each others views. Instead we could agree to disagree but continue being friends who see all we appreciate about each other as well.
In Metta Meditation there is a step where we take time to think about those we disagree with. I would say many have a difficult time with this step in the meditation because the point is to stop putting up boundaries around our classifications of people. We will easily offer words of happiness and peace to those we like or love and it becomes harder to do with strangers or those we dislike. This step though helps us observe the clinging to that view. I am not saying go and be hurt by that person again but we can let go of the hate, anger and sadness we are carrying in our hearts.
To my friend I thank you for this lovely reminder yesterday and I carried you in my heart all afternoon. In the meantime everyone please consider voting because it is your time to speak your own truth. This also means many will chose to vote differently than me and maybe even chose not to vote; that is your choice. That is the beauty of a democracy. Let's remember this, support each other instead of tearing each other down and be kind.
"Have a good day for no reason!"
---Paige