Compassion through social strife

[Bring4th_Austin]

This one feels different. More organic. More unified. More passionate. My only hope is that whatever rises from the ashes is something a little closer to what we can and should be as a species. It may take a total collapse. It may take countless lives. But in the end, maybe those that have been born the last few decades came here for this exact reason. To right the wrongs of so many over the centuries. To be that collective catalyst and push for not only a positive harvest but to ease the collective suffering of the earth as a whole. Change is painful and I expect much pain in coming days

Thank you Jeremy. It is good to be reminded that essential transformation is hardly ever pleasant. We might seek to avoid pain and relieve the suffering of ourselves and others, but maybe one of the best ways to do that is to share the perspective that pain can be an agent of transformation.

Sam Harris made an analogy in one of his books that has always stuck with me: contextualizing pain can shift our entire perspective towards it. If we are bedridden with horrible aches and pains, we experience suffering. Yet when an athlete or weight lifter feels the burn in their muscles from intense exercise, the experience is of growth and progress. Both are painful, but the context changes the very experience of that pain.

I don't think I could ever tell another person that their pain is essential, especially if it comes from systemic injustice. But the pain is still a reality, and it might still have different contexts to explore.