Bridge To The Great Political Divide

  The old rule of thumb in conversation was never talking about religion or politics.

It didn't take long on Facebook for me to figure out that posting about those subjects will also get you roasted pretty quickly.

There is a problem in this rule.

 If I can't talk about my opinions then how can I possibly learn or grow? I want to be able to post about an important issue and have a discussion about why someone might disagree with me. Send me links to real subjects that change my perspective and get me thinking about the other side of things.

Call me a doody head and unfriend me and our chances of teaching each other vanish. We also lose all hopes of learning anything personal about each other that could potentially foster goodwill and understanding. Doomed are any hopes of meeting somewhere in the middle- finding common ground. Let's be honest; we can't even call ourselves mature adults.


I grew up right-wing, my family as conservative as they come. Hey, we hail from within the Bible belt. We like our guns, flags, and Church on Sunday. Then, when I got uncomfortable, I dared to venture outside my Time magazine and Fox News reality bubble. Bless my soul- I found that I might just be a little ignorant to the "other side" of things.


The delivery of this lesson was not a gentle tap on the shoulder. It was a full on, ego-shredding brick to the head. Long story, short. I got ousted from a home-school group over a disagreement on illegal immigrants. When I say ousted, I mean thrown out in an online hate storm and name calling. I was called a racist- Rush Limbaugh. ( I didn't even know who Rush Limbaugh was but I was pretty sure it wasn't a compliment when they called me by that name.) I asked the organizer of the group to please present me with her arguments. Enlighten me with stories and ideas. Broaden my horizons!

Instead, I was cut off from the entire group and never spoken to again. I was devastated. Even in the throes of my Republican propaganda regurgitation days, I was not a racist. That one hurt. I had to do some soul searching. One of the more gentle ladies did contact me to say that she did not believe me to be racist from my point of view on illegal immigration- after all, she told me, plenty of people here illegally are in fact, white people. Still, I was broken-hearted and confused because, in my mind, I was a patriot, American.


It wasn't until after I educated myself (pulled my head out of the sand) that I realized---I was biased and uninformed (a hapless dope) who had been brought up under a narrowed belief system. I had one side of every story. I had no influence that might cause me to question that teaching. I was living with the programming of my upbringing and experience. What I had said in my defense was correct to my best knowledge. I honestly had no idea how I had come under such fire-

But I was sure as shit going to find out!


First, I got a subscription to Newsweek. I actively compared the stories there to the ones in my Time Magazine. I began to study the issues from different angles to try and understand how people came to their varying opinions and differences in approach. I wanted to dissect and form an educated opinion rather than just follow the conservative or liberal slants. I began to challenge my knee-jerk assessments and heartily search for alternate viewpoints to disprove my ideas. I learned research without forming opinions. To pull all my information together and only then use critical thinking to make decisions. I learned how to broaden my personal perspectives.

"Critical thinking is essential if we are to get to the root of our problems and develop reasonable solutions. After all, the quality of everything we do is determined by the quality of our thinking."

(http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/our-mission/599)

I began to see with absolute clarity the human issues and rigidity of beliefs that divide us in this country.


In the grand scheme of things, we all need and want the same things. To paint it with a wide brush: We want to be treated fairly and given proper credit for our efforts. We want to be free to raise children and for those children to also be free, healthy and happy. We want to be able to enjoy our lives. To be safe, and still have peace and justice in our homes, our country, and our world.

Why then are we all at each other's throats? We are so ready to throw down and fight or slam the door and walk away. How can we be this divided over the way seek to go about getting our needs met?

This inability to express ourselves and speak our needs doesn't bode well for anyone's argument nor, does it offer much hope for the human race in problem-solving.

So, what is the obstacle to our ability to compromise?

It is my belief that it stems from poor communication and a fear of new ideas that might oppose our own.

I believe if communication skills and emotional intelligence were required studies in our schools, society would be better equipped to impart their needs more effectively. There would be understanding that fear makes us judgmental and intolerant. With proper tone and wording, it would be safe to ask questions about other cultures and religions,   allowing for tolerance and more overall understanding of one another. Right speech could build camaraderie like never before in our world- beginning in our homes.

 Right speech: Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path)

There is a lack of understanding the importance of the clarity of our words and tone we speak them. There is such normalcy in the mass use of verbal abuse and false argument. We are so reactive- we have become unable to comprehend or tolerate intelligent conversation. As a result, much of our population is functionally unable to access any workable mentality as a cohesive group. Bad arguments are the cornerstones of the debates on our news and Facebook feeds. Further descending us even deeper into unconquerable ego battles. Competing mercilessly to be heard- and be right, with a winner-takes-all ego to bully us on we possess no skills to perfect win-win scenarios that could ultimately transform our communities.


"The attitudes you bring to communication will have an enormous impact on the way you compose yourself and interact with others. Choose, to be honest, patient, optimistic, sincere, respectful, and accepting of others. Be sensitive to other people's feelings, and believe in others' competence." (http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-Good-Communication-Skills)

Using the lessons of The Four Agreements and Non-Violent Communication, I approach Facebook and life differently now. I try to come from a place of curiousness. I ask people who seem very sure about things if they have considered other people's points of view. I express, how I have found that I can rarely have a perfect idea of how things "should" work. When I take the time to examine whether things proposed might be harmful in some way- they usually are. I speak of my fears of doing unforeseen harm with harsh policies and rigid stances.

If there is any hope of making improvements in this world, we will have to work together. The shift toward mindfulness has arrived. Those following the movement have the want to be conscious and tame the ego. Progress is depending on those. To aid our population in unity, excellent communication skills and to nurture growth in others will help preserve the goodwill. Working on communication, we can demonstrate the skills to our families and with those we interact. We can carry the motion forward and hope to change the trajectory of what has become our Achilles heel and self-degradation as a civilization.

My thoughts on Eric Shaw's Rant

"Other people's opinions have nothing to do with you."

It is a rare thing these days to read an article and been so completely shocked that my mouth was literally hanging open. Eric Shaw shocked the yoga world in Dallas, Texas with a scathing rant directed at women.  (https://www.facebook.com/notes/eric-shaw/masculinism-101-a-response-to-the-feminist-recoding-of-history/10158227707910228)
Eric Shaw is a well-known and formerly a highly respected member of the yoga community as an E-RYT 500 and a continuing yoga education provider. He has been teaching yoga since 2001, but his personal practice goes back even further. Having instructed all over the world and has even helped to develop curriculum for the Yoga Alliance. He has his own system of teaching, writes training manuals, and regularly is asked to lecture at area teacher training. He is a very busy yogi and has a full schedule of lectures and workshops all over Texas and worldwide. (http://prasanayoga.com/)
I am baffled as I ponder what could have caused such a person to publically display such hurtful and reactive things? In his blog, he says "Mother Nature is still being kept from killing human society by an army of men that confronts her every day." Apparently, even the feminine aspect of Mother Nature has offended him. The assertion that Mother Nature is attacking us is a very odd stance. I presume his belief to be that we are being protected from mother nature by the big oil industry.  A very unique way of seeing the situation, indeed. He mentions Deepwater Horizon as proof of our need for protection from Mother Nature's wrath. However, as I see it, big oil "woke the sleeping giant" when they dared to "mess with Mother Nature."
His attack on women is pretty vicious. He calls women succubus while never commenting on the inequality, oppression or mistreatments of women. Women still endure unequal pay for the same job and safety from those "bedrock hardened men" he mentions. As a matter of fact, every issue he mentioned was poorly represented, misleading and pivotal points were entirely ignored. That first post was such an inflammatory, wildly opinionated and fact-less argument that I didn't even think it deserved a rebuttal.
An interesting complication for Eric is that Yoga, his bread, and butter, is primarily practiced by women. Men are only 27.8% of the yoga community. (http://www.statisticbrain.com/yoga-statistics/) He has without a doubt damaged his reputation, perhaps irreparably. Whatever kindness and good he has accomplished will most likely forever be tarnished by this day.
For me, the question becomes, has he truly always held these opinions?  Has he practiced alongside women for all those years with such disdain for them and yet he managed to hide it only to blurt it out on Facebook one day? There is no doubt that a significant lapse in his mindfulness occurred. But then, stress and upset cause us all to lose our minds temporarily. Whatever the reason for this rant we can all learn from this experience. A momentary blip in our variable and fragile mental state could someday be the beginning of our own complete self-destruction.
As yogis, we can view this as a very unique opportunity. We can accept the challenge to try to mindfully process it. Ask yourself, do I have the ability to mindfully withhold judgment. To choose to see it impartially as a man acting from his place on his path. The challenge is to have compassion and empathy for this man. To understand something was experienced that caused such a reaction from him.
 If I am compelled to be angry and reactively call out hatefully back at him, I am no more mindful than he. To stand as judge and jury from my imaginary high horse- from an ignorantly perceived moral high ground only puts me in a position ever tenuous and fleeting. As I judge, I will indeed be judged.
 With this understanding, I will not be casting stones from my glass house. I have my own issues. I have been so ridiculously reactive as to curse at gas pumps- to have thrown hamburgers from car windows and stomp on un-openable packages that have managed to surpass my ability to cope. On my not-so-good days, I just might "burn down the village" just as he did today.
My non-reaction does not mean I agree with him. It does not make me less that he said derogatory things about women. I am the same- only our understanding of him is different.
"Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering." ~ Miguel Ruiz

The Hardship Of Conscious Consuming.

The Hardship that is Conscious Consuming.

I am finding it to be harder and harder to be a conscious consumer. I am constantly bombarded with new information about how even the seemingly simplest of things that we do has far more reach and repercussion than we give credit. The choices I make offhandedly when I am shopping are the decisions that collectively make millionaires and close down mom-and-pop shops.

 I had gone over the ingredients with a fine toothed comb and thought I had found a product that I could feel good about purchasing. I get home and read a news story of how my new favorite peanut butter contains palm oil- an industry that is mercilessly killing orangutans. Next, my eye is caught by a horrifying video of newborn chicks being tortured and killed immediately after birth by egg farms. I was so upset by that scene that it sent me on a quest to figure out how to stop being an accomplice to the torture of chickens. Trying to sort through the information around egg farming led to the confusion of trying to distinguish "free range" "cage free" and "pasture raised."  All this research work is going to require serious dedication. I am spending my entire day on web searches. Just when I have my answer to one conundrum, some new realization sends me on yet another wild goose chase to sort through.

Today a quick google search for smoothie ingredients has turned into yet another product calamity, and I am knee deep in disturbing information again. It seems I have uncovered that is standard practice to use of mercury, formaldehyde, and urea in my makeup's ingredients.

"Urea can be irritating to skin, eyes, and the respiratory tract. Repeated or prolonged contact with urea in fertilizer form on the skin may cause dermatitis. High concentrations in the blood can be damaging. Urea can cause algal blooms to produce toxins, and its presence in the runoff from fertilized land may play a role in the increase of toxic blooms. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea)

How am I supposed to cope with the stress of every little thing being a life and death decision?

I now know that trying to prevent weeds in my yard has the potential to give me Parkinson's Disease. When the city sprays pesticides meant to kill mosquitoes they are inadvertently wiping out the bee populations. Everywhere I turn there is more scientific proof that the things I buy and use every day are poisoning me and have a high occurrence of disease-causing potential.

 How many times have you heard the commercial for a new drug that has caused mass deaths and is being recalled? Even the medicine I take is not safe. It is up to me to do the research on its safety lest I am the next one with terrible damage to my health along with all the other unsuspecting people who trusted in its safety.

I feel like I am walking through a mine field every time I walk into a store. The bad ingredient list in one hand and my boycotted brand roster in the other has become as tedious as a needle in a haystack that I have to pick through. I feel like there should be credentialed- geniuses in lab coats doing this work. I am just a wife and mom whose primary concern should be finding the best price or figuring out which brand tastes the best.

Wait a minute! Isn't there an agency for assuring the safety of our products and tasked with preventing environmental harm from hazardous products? Isn't that the FDA's job? 

Well, a little more research into how the Hell this stuff is happening, and here we go again. There is an unbelievable amount of cover-up, misinformation, advertising fraud, and blatant underhandedness being allowed by our government's supervising agencies. Does the bad news ever end? Complacency, incompetence but most disturbingly- bribes and kickbacks are allowing unsafe products on our shelves. Obviously, it is the time that I stop naively believing that somebody is looking out for my best interests.

We are on our own, guys.

"When the FDA finds scientific fraud or misconduct, the agency doesn’t notify the public, the medical establishment, or even the scientific community that the results of a medical experiment are not to be trusted. On the contrary. For more than a decade, the FDA has shown a pattern of burying the details of misconduct." (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/02/fda_inspections_fraud_fabrication_and_scientific_misconduct_are_hidden_from.html)
When I mention these things to people, I get mixed reactions. Some people are skeptical but set out to fact check and see if I have a clue what I am talking about. Those are the people that I consider my companions in this battle. I am frustrated by the ones who just look at me like I have two heads and ask me where my foil hat went.

There is no doubt it is a big hill to climb. The predicament we are in is not simple to assess, nor elementary to absolve.

 To be quite honest we are in a pretty big pickle here.

Our best progress as consumers has been in actively engaging in educating ourselves and coming together to boycott brands and products that are not worthy of our standards.  We are capable of bringing change by being conscious consumers.  By hitting these companies in their "bottom line" with boycotts, our buying power shows these big companies that we do care, and we will sacrifice some simplicity and convenience to prove it- our lives depend on it. We have the power to bring about changes in this world that better us all- humans and animals. We just have to get in and stay in the fight.

We are turning the tides- slowly but surely.