We Don't Like Your Government.... You We Like.

Masai Warriors-Kenya

For so many years, well actually for many generations, individuals have lived under various domination type systems. In the times when survival required that the village acted quickly and as one, this model of leadership was critical. Invaders were spotted, one leader sounded the cry the the entire village hid, fled or stood to fight. This survival routine is anchored very securely in our lower brain.

When we sense a change, even a subtle one, our brain signals and the loop for survival kicks in. Alert! Fear? Freeze, Flee or Fight.

In such systems, the individual must mold and adapt to what is dictated within the group, usually from the top. In our day, we call it the patriarchal model. When you look around, you see the model everywhere beginning in many homes. Fathers are in charge because he is male, he makes more money, he expects to be obeyed, it is tradition.

And you see it in corporations. Policies are set at the top to accomplish the goal of the top, in most cases, great financial reward. Those in the corporate community are expected to mold and adapt if they want to keep their job. It is not a system that values various voices to either expand the goal or to add policy that would create greater well being for individual workers or a more generous working environment.

You see it in every major religion. In fact, it is in those domains that it is most deeply entrenched. With "god" at the and the physical leader as the one who makes "gods" wishes visible, who can question? Of course the congregation members are expected to mold and adapt themselves to the culture created by the religion.

We have become experts at surviving. We are entrained to mold ourselves to every outside system. We mold ourselves to our religion. We mold ourselves to our work. We mold ourselves to our families. We mold ourselves to our friends.

Where in our lives are we living true to our inner dreams? When was the last time that you sat with yourself to identify your values? In what area of your life would you consider the reflection of "you"?

Instead, we dis-associate.

•  We dis-associate from our work. "They are so discounting of the employees But, I just keep my head low."
• We dis-associate from our spiritual community. "They take a hard stand against gays. But, I just keep quiet about my friends who are lesbian."
• We dis-associate from our relationships. "He is really very jealous. But, I stop going out with my friends and that seems to help."
• And, we dis-associate from our government.  "The government has drones that are targeting and killing. But, that is not me. That is not what I would do. I am just going to live my life and keep quiet."

We have come to believe, in our twisted state of thinking from our outdated survival model, that the government is not US! We sleep well at night because the horrors brought upon families in other parts of the world by a government that sees "terrorists" everywhere is not in power because of ME! We go about our day of busyness, confident that people in other parts of the world love Americans, they just do not like our government. We are Good. Our government is Bad. We are Stepfords Wives from our generations upon generations training to be good, obedient followers.

We are stuck in the automatic survial loop:
trusting voices other than our own to interrupt signals of difference as danger
not questioning
turn off media and freeze into denial

When we live in such states of dis-association and entrainment, we cannot call yourself enlightened, aware, compassionate, caring, mature, whole. In truth we are living lies. To have any aspect of our life out of sync with our values, our goals, our desires, our dreams, our sense of good, is to be in-congruent, imbalanced, shadows of ourselves. Instead of creating a culture of unity, harmony, equality, thriving, generosity, which is we are are our core, we contribute to the outcome. The outcome is a government, corporations, religions, communities that are fractured and acting our that fracture.

What will it take for us to hear from each other and from other countries, "I love my life and I love my government". "I love you and I love your government"? I suspect it will take citizens who identify their values, honor their sense of good, act to the good of community and then require that all systems in their world do the same. Integrity for what we are as divine beings.

Out of the Shadows certainly is a book that reminds you of a different way to see our "history."