I almost wrapped up this dream series the weekend of 9/11, but it never really came together. Some pretty intense situations were on edge about that time, with threats to burn a Qu’ran or two – one of those was here in Tennessee – and emotional fires burning around the Park 51 community center proposal near Ground Zero, which seemed to bring into being (or maybe just into focus?) a sharp rise of Islamophobia. I was on edge, too, and frequently had to re-center in heartspace. It was hard to focus on writing.
After 9/11, at least to me, the heat seemed to dissipate, but I also wondered if it might just have slipped back underground, or if something transformative might have happened to redirect all that energy into other channels of expression.
For one thing, I began finding many articles, blogs, videos and other conversations in which people who have been on the receiving end of such hatred were talking about it. Meanwhile, I was going through a series of inspirations on where to go with this next, but before I could finish writing a new post, I'd find myself beyond that place, in new territory.
More living dreams unfold. At warp speed.
In these new dreams, I hear or see things that trigger an association back to the Knoxville rally dream or to a piece of it. This tells me that there is much more to be explored and discovered about what really ails us and how to set things right and whole again. All I can say for sure right now is that we as a nation are not done with racism. Or extremism. Or homophobia. Or xenophobia. Or any one of a number of other -isms and -phobias caught daily on tape, in print, online, in mind.
But I'm not discouraged about the road ahead. What I see emerging more clearly at these points of intersection are principles and patterns that appear to surround them all. How do I make use of these on the journey of this lifetime? Are they guideposts? Mile markers? Maps? Rest and refueling areas? I’m not sure yet. I guess all I can do is to take them one by one and keep travelblogging.
Coming soon: Dealing with the Dark Side of the Mind and the Moon
