Microdosing Hope

Dear Creative Geniuses, Unsung Transfomers, Sacred Agents, and Cool Readers:

Whether you're a devotee of God, Goddess, Nature, or the Creative Force at the Heart of the Universe, you have undoubtedly noticed a deeply rooted quirk about the way it works. It has an intense predisposition to generate ceaseless change. It likes to keep things moving right along.

Earlier in my life, I bore a grudge against this incorrigible proclivity. But after repeatedly having my karma crumpled for resisting it, I realized I'd better get used to it. In recent years, I've come a long way in retraining myself to be cheerfully cooperative with the primal flow.

That’s one reason why my nickname for myself is “Flux Mojo.” I aspire to derive magical potency by aligning myself with life’s ceaseless changes.
But here’s an important caveat: I also yearn to influence the way the flux unfolds. I am focused on the prospect of tweaking the flow so it bends in the direction of justice, beauty, truth, and love — not just for me but for everyone.

I am a revolutionary.

My desires to fulfill my own personal life goals are strong, but equally strong are my longings to be of service to the greater good.

I want to participate in the project of creating a paradise on earth.

I want to help alleviate the world's suffering and maximize liberation — among my fellow humans as well as among the animals and plants.

And I want to align myself and harmonize my efforts with dear colleagues: people who treasure an empathetic, compassionate, creative way of being in the world.

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Lately, I must admit, our work has seemed almost impossible. Many of us are understandably anxious about how everything seems upside-down and inside-out.

The grotesque onset of the Trumpocalypse has scared those of us whose destinies are in direct danger of being damaged. And Trump’s toxic agenda is horrific to all of us who care about the world outside of our personal sphere.

So no, at this peculiar turning point in the evolution of life’s 14-billion-year-old master game, it's not easy to carry out our holy mission.

Somehow, we've got to figure out how to be both wrathful insurrectionaries and exuberant lovers of life.

We've got to cultivate cheerful buoyancy even as we fiercely resist and refute the thousands of delusions that have been carefully crafted and seductively packaged by the know-it-all deceivers.
We have to learn how to stay in good yet unruly moods as we overthrow the sour, puckered mass hallucination that the selfish haters package and promote as "reality."

Maybe most importantly, we have to be forcefully and boisterously dedicated to the cause of beauty and truth and love — even as we keep our imaginations wild and hungry and free. We have to be both disciplined and rowdy.





David Byrne performs his ”Hymn of Optimism and Countercultural Anthem of Resistance and Resilience” with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.


INCREMENTAL REVOLUTION

I said above that I am a revolutionary. I always have been. And my intention to commit revolution is unflappable in the face of the Trumpocalypse. More than ever, I yearn to overthrow the toxic rot that this stupid bully and his thugs embody and perpetrate.

My understanding of revolution is different from that of some people, however. They believe “revolution” means a sudden, radical destruction and demise of the sick old order and the rapid, thoroughgoing bloom of a beautiful new order.

I have a different perspective. While I am all in favor of giant, positive transformations, my natural style of revolution is incremental, persistent, and diligent. In my experience, major shifts in how life works are more likely to come about through a measured approach. Same with politics.

And so the revolutionary fervor that my colleagues and I stoke is tenacious, determined, and detail-oriented. The revolution we seek happens gradually, relentlessly, and inexorably.




Image from the book by Alice Walker with the same title. Created by Shiloh McCloud and Michelle Noe.





DANCING, SINGING REVOLUTION

Another defining point of our revolution: It’s fun, even delightful. It stirs radiance and pleasure. It’s full of dancing, singing, and conviviality.

At the the marrow of our burning quest for justice is joy. Our rebellion inspires revelry. While we compost the death-culture's idiocies, we also pollinate tomorrow's gardens with seeds of benevolent mischief, exuberant artistry, and erotic glee. Our protests pulse with the rhythms of both fury and fertility.

The wild awakenings we cultivate are woven exuberantly into our daily rhythm. We seek and welcome activations and inspirations in small, mundane moments as well as in big, thrilling adventures.

These approaches help ensure the inevitable outcome: that the malignant Empire’s toxic nightmares will get their last sick hurrah and then collapse in decay.

The pathological power of the retrograde bigots will putrefy and poison them from within, clearing the way for our empathy and tenderness to thrive.
Their festering, degenerate narratives will increasingly crack open portals for our revolutionary grace to pour through.

Listen to: “The Future Belongs to Us”

Listen to: “This Is a Perfect Moment”





SACRED ACTIVISM

Here's another key fact about our brand of revolution: It’s infused with SACRED ACTIVISM.
What’s that? Below are a few words about the nature of SACRED ACTIVISM—with a nod to author Andrew Harvey, the genius who coined the term.

Those of us who practice SACRED ACTIVISM say this: A spiritual path that’s rooted solely in personal investigation and communion with transcendent energies may ignore destructive historical forces—and even allow them, collude with them.

Without curiosity and care about our larger collective problems, an inward-focused approach allows, even sanctions, the world’s corruption and collapse.

To be holistic, spiritual practice must expoand beyond the selfish drive for individual enlightenment. It must include mercy and charity for all the rest of creation.

Conversely, activism that has no foundation in deep inner work and self-examination may merely reinforce ignorant patterns that fuel the decaying elements of society. It can in fact replicate the very systems of oppression and exploitation it seeks to dismantle.

A revolutionary intention to generate social justice requires more than passion and commitment; it needs ongoing self-reflection that cultivates humility and sincere compassion. It requires us to engage in

shadow work

See Mandi Em’s book: Feral Self Care+





SACRED ACTIVISM thrives when spiritual insight and practical action are interwoven. It proposes that lasting transformation is possible only if inner wisdom and outer effort are integrated.

SACRED ACTIVISM doesn’t separate the pursuit of inner peace from the quest for social justice. It understands that one without the other is incomplete.

It calls upon us to bring our high ideals into tangible expression through hard work that is both visionary and pragmatic.

It requires our commitment to long-term, systemic change rather than short-term, superficial solutions.

SACRED ACTIVISM challenges the notion that transformation can be achieved through quick fixes or fleeting enthusiasm. It’s a patient and persistent approach that understands real change unfolds over time and is the result of sustained effort, collaboration, and adaptability.

All struggles to create a better world are interconnected, and SACRED ACTIVISM embraces this fact. We can’t strive to demolish racism without also working to dismantle misogyny.

Fighting to end ecocidal terrorism by corporations is inextricably linked to reducing the gaping gap between the rich and poor. And so on.

Finally, SACRED ACTIVISM is not solely accomplished through public demonstrations and grand gestures. It emerges equally in small, everyday acts of compassion, service, and care.




Original artwork by Lily Seika Jones, who's on Instagram at @rivuletpaper





PROPOSED BOTTOM-LINE PHILOSOPHY

Our happiness, potency, and spiritual skill are impossible and hollow unless we are in service to others. With this in mind, I propose an extension of the Bodhisattva’s Vow.

The Bodhisattva Vow: “My own personal quest for illumination is incomplete, and my own personal enlightenment is meaningless, unless I am also devoted to easing the suffering of others.”

I suggest we take this Vow a step further and say, “My quest for illumination is incomplete, and my enlightenment meaningless, unless I am also devoted to the goals of easing the suffering of others and helping them experience joy and pleasure and liberation and meaningfulness.”

A cornerstone of this Extended Version of the Bodhisattva’s Vow is that we are committed to providing the fundamental needs of all human beings—their food, shelter, medical care, money—so they have the ability to cultivate joy and pleasure and liberation and abundance.

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Proposed bottom-line spiritual philosophy: For any one of us, our life is rooted in the principle that whatever hurts other people hurts us; that injustices experienced by others are also injustices experienced by us.

None of us can truly be free and fulfilled unless we work toward the goal of ensuring everyone is free and fulfilled.

These are not vague abstract ideals. They’re the central source of our soul's code and how we organize our beliefs, emotions, and actions.