This aphorism has stood the test of time –
What You Resist Persists
We therapists usually think of this as something that plays out in our daily lives – like resisting traffic jams makes me grumpier than if I just go with it.
Resisting the current US president or any authoritarian force in your life, ultimately doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for lots of reasons. First you stay in their narrative. They make up the story. They dictate where your mind and heart go, distracting you from what is most important to you.
I don’t want you to just give up. That’s not this message. I want you to take back the addenda.
Ask yourself, “What am I for? What do I want to promote? What do I want to advocate?”
Secondly, when we resist, we naturally respond as if we have been victimized. You don’t want to take the stance of victimization, do you?
Creating Is the Only Way Out of Victimization – Martha Beck
In recent politics, we have two movements that illustrate the creative aspect vs. resistance.
On January 21, 2017 with Pink Pussy Hats employed creativity and playfulness to uplift millions and take a powerful stand for women all over the world. The march was a huge success with its pink pussy hats, primarily by being a creative and playful response to millennia of heinous cultural mistreatment of women, not just the most recent abuses by the 45th president.
And Black Lives Matter clearly makes people want to say, YES. Not resistance but powerful advocacy which should be self evident as in “we hold these truths to be self evident…” The naming makes the movement easy to support. Support vs. resistance.
Go forth, create, and advocate, be happy, wild, and free.
William
P.S. You can play with one or all of these to boost your creativity.
- Altar Making: An Active Meditation for Healing Your Heart and for Deepening Spiritual Meaning in Your Life
- Color the Sky Yellow: Creative Magic, Playful Art for Your Inner Child
- Drawing the Sacred: Communing with the Sacred through Drawing – An Illustrated Journey Paper Back Version Kindle version
- Sketching, Poetry, and the Sacred Present Moment: A Magically Potent Way To Savor Your Life Paper Back Version Kindle version
