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I wasn't always loud, opinionated and bossy.
I was actually quite shy and awkward as a child.
There were many things I thought and felt as a child, teen and young adult.
Injustice, unfairness, dishonesty, racism, misuse of power and more
weighed heavy on my tender heart.
I don't know when exactly I found my courage and my voice, but I did.
It could've been at age 11 when I emphatically told my grandfather who snuck in my room in the middle of the night and crouched on the floor beside my bed, startling me awake, to 'Get Out now or I will tell my Granny!' (he left).
Maybe it was in my mid-twenties in an Awareness seminar when I timidly told a man playing the victim for too long that he was taking up all the air in the room. The facilitator commended my courage and this exchange led to a much deeper experience for us all, including the man I called out.
It could've been on my Soulo trip backpacking through Europe when I stopped pick-pocketers on 3 different occasions by yelling out and chasing them away.
Or perhaps it was when I did a one woman peace march during the Iraq war in Manhattan Beach while people screamed 'Go to hell hippie' and worse.
Possibly it was when I was arrested and spent the night in jail for refusing to leave a scene where 3 white police officers were harassing a Black man for no reason. In the short ride to jail, the officers verbally attacked me calling me every explicative you could imagine and promising to teach me a lesson. Lesson learned: Some officers are racists and abuse their power.
Maybe it was when I witnessed a guy getting the shit beat out of him by 4 guys on the Hermosa Beach Boardwalk the night of September 11, 2001 with dozens of bystanders egging the beating on. After pleading with the bouncer to stop the fight (he laughed at me), my heart couldn't take it anymore and I ran directly into the middle of the fight screaming 'Stop it' again and again. I refused to leave and my presence muddled the guys. Within minutes police arrived and I was knocked down and pepper sprayed with the bunch.
Right before the fight broke out I was in a heated debate with a guy I had just met. 9/11 happened that morning and tensions were high. He was being a jerk, saying the world was going to shit and we had to fight. His last words to me were, 'oh you're such a badass, what would you do?' When the fight broke out right in front of us, he was one of the guys chanting 'kick his ass!'
With peppered eyes and a concussion, I went up to him when it was over,
and said, 'that's what I would do!'
The truth is, I don't know when I found my courage and my voice... but somewhere along the way, I decided that this lifetime would not be the life I would be silent in, especially when injustices were happening around me.
I don't have regrets for those times and many others when I spoke up for justice, equality, safety, and the rights of myself and others.
There were times I did not find the courage or voice to speak up, and I have compassion for that me who wanted so badly to be liked and fit in... because on reflection, that was the driving force behind my quiet.
So here I sit, with much to say about what's happening in the USA.
I know my voice ruffles people. My shares can be uncomfortable.
My posts can cause friction and lead to folks unfriending me.
Four people unsubscribed from my July newsletter when wrote about how unsafe I felt with the Supreme Court's unprecedented decision to grant
Trump criminal immunity, which is still terrifying.
A friend emailed me suggesting I stop posting political things,
and stick with only speaking of Love and Light.
Here's the thing...
Love and Light are the foundation of everything I say and do.
Speaking up for justice is loving.
Calling out harm is caring.
Sharing to inform and educate is service.
Championing for our rights and freedoms are Light actions.
It may make you uncomfortable.
It may threaten your stance on things.
It may rattle you and make you think and feel.
But the stirring when something is amiss matters.
I can't say how you should play out your Karmic path...
Maybe this is the lifetime for you to side with the oppressor.
Bullies, bystanders, bossy pants, Bodhisattvas... all play their roles.
Perhaps it is your time to be silent and do nothing.
But it is not my lifetime for this.
So little miss bossy pants will carry on.
At least through this important election where our Democracy,
and our rights, freedoms and protections are on the line.
After that... who knows.
May we show up and Vote for Love
May we show up and Vote for Unity
May we show up and Vote for Kindness
May we show up and Vote for Humanity
May we show up and Vote for Mother Earth
May we show up and Vote for our Democracy
May we show up and Vote for each other
Let's move forward together
In loving,
Teri Jo
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