I have one of those love hate relationships with Facebook. Seriously though, it could be an awesome tool for spreading goodness and ideas amongst people connected virtually, increasing unity among beings. Or, it could be a huge tool for corrupt corporations/government/etc to spy on and gather information about regular old people in order to advertise more specifically (gross) or subtly maintain tyrrannical control over anyone who would wish to organize and rebel (grosser). But it is definitely a place where people who normally love each other get into some nasty arguments and sometimes friendships cease to exist over wall posts or comments.
There is no reason to deny here my warrior spirit. I am argumentative and fight for the light! Haha how very Joan of Arc of me. Very often I find myself so shocked by what people have said or posted that I retort from a place of anger on my own page. I tend to go back in forth, not only online but in my daily life, between undying compassionate love for every single human and, utter disbelief and disgust at what some humans are capable of doing to each other and our planet Earth. It can get reeeeal hazy in my world when those two get mixed in together. The thing is, though, that I am aware of the fact that what we need is love rather than judgment in order to evolve and especially to heal the ills that have been accumulating here for a very long time. In the moments of shock, it can be hard to put love at the forefront.
The reason I write this post right now is to make a pledge. I am much more likely to remember it if I have shared it with someone, even an audience I may never meet, and it is important to me that I keep my word - so no forgetting! My pledge is that from now on, everything I post on Facebook will come from a place of love. Even if I write about something icky going on in the world, I will write it informatively but without judging those who may be participating in it. Ultimately, judgment is knowing something is awry and being attached to that fact or attaching an emotion to it, whereas discernment is simply having the knowledge that some random thing is imbalanced.
Recognizing judgment vs. discernment can be extremely difficult to do, and takes a ton of practice. I am saying this from first hand experience. However discernment allows the observer to work constructively toward a remedy. More often than not, judgment keeps the observer stagnant in a state of sometimes paralyzing emotion about the situation. There are of course times when people are prompted to take important actions because they are so angry about something, and this is well channeled anger.
I haven't quite figured out how I would for instance, inform my friends about something as horrific as factory farming without being aggressive and judgmental against everyone who supports it in some way, but I am actively practicing it. Perhaps my love for the animals and for the people who perform this type of work will outweigh my repulsion by the fact that it happens, and that will give me some creativity in my approach to talking about it AND changing it.
Lemons to Lemonade, right?!
There is a strong feeling that a particular coworker of mine is going to give me lots of first hand practice in compassion, which is a big reason I feel this person has been placed in my life. Now I can look forward to the challenges s/he presents, because I know they are going to help me in many other aspects of my life. I love how I just turned that lemon into lemonade!
Ok, it's late, so that's enough for now.
Ciao!
