Freedom, Not Fear
Freedom: the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Dictionary
Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Dictionary
Friday night was the fourth of July. My neighbor invited me to walk along the riverfront park and watch the fireworks with her. I have lived in Spokane for three plus years now and have yet to celebrate the fourth Spokane-style. I said yes. We parked a mile away and walked our way down to the bridge. We arrived about twenty minutes before the show began and we people watched. There were many families. Lots of baby carriages. Kids were running around. Young couples holding each other. Some older people, but not many. We looked over the bridge at the river and spoke of the lack of snow this year and how shallow the river seems to be. Just before 10 pm we walked off the bridge and found a corner with a fence we leaned against. The show started at 10 pm. We looked to the sky and one, two, three fireworks went off then nothing. The show stopped. We switched our eyes from above to horizontal to see this once happy crowd running. Down small hills, across pavement, toward the bridge. Strollers were pushed quickly. I watched while saying to my neighbor, “isn’t that strange. Everyone seems to be running.” My emergency response isn’t always the fastest and it certainly wasn’t on the fourth. I turn to my neighbor and said “should we be running too?” We asked the man right in front of us what was happening. He pointed straight ahead and said “that man has a pistol. Active shooter.” I turned to my neighbor who said she forgot her glasses and couldn’t see. I grabbed her hand and said “I got ya.” Then I proceeded to lead us quickly down a set of stairs and to a neighboring bridge. We were both safe.
When I got home I went online to learn that there was a fight between two people; one man had a gun. There wasn’t an intent for a mass shooting, there was a conflict between two people. The news media downplayed the moment saying the active shooter wasn’t true, it was simply a fight. And one person got hurt during the running stampede. The media downplay didn’t calm the adrenaline I felt when I watched thousands of people flee in fear. This was not the fourth of July honoring freedom I intended.
After a traumatic jarring event, like this, what does one do? I’ll share with you what I did. I texted some friends, which diffused some of the energy. The following day, the 5th, I rested, prayed, meditated, sat in nature watching birds fly then indulged in some comforting programming. Then on the 6th I asked my Self deeper questions. I was reminded that in Consciousness there is the individual point of Consciousness that can be awake or asleep. Then there is the collective consciousness which is the temperature of the whole. The collective consciousness isn’t very healthy right now. It is riddled with fear, violence, embracing of the ego as supreme and dominant. My neighbor I went to see the fireworks with is a prayer warrior. So am I. I trust our desire to attend the firework display was a Soul calling to be Consciously Present, standing witness. I included the thousands of people in my prayers. I am envisioning a different future for us all.
My heart continues to break over and over again. My head “gets it.” Most of humanity believes we are here forever and they jostle for dominate positioning. This is a dance of the ego; not a reflection of The Truth. The Truth is our Being lasts forever as it is an expression of the Divine Whole. Our ego and body are here on beautiful planet earth for a blink of an eye. How precious can these moments together be?
“And so the art of freedom becomes the necessary adventure of grasping the secrets that are everywhere in the open and stirring their aspects within us, in such a way that we come alive: learning from the fish how to surface and dive, from the flower how to open and accept, from the stone how to crack and let light in, and from the birds that wings are more useful at times than brains.” Mark Nepo, poet
Live in Love,
