There are lots of systems + power structures at work in the world that try to impose their agendas on our lives.

That try to interrupt our aliveness + reroute our life-force to fit those agendas,

impose “shoulds” that are often at odds with our healthy human needs + rhythms + instincts + knowings + desires,

and shame us when we push back.

A few examples that come to mind are cultures of capitalism + the protestant work ethic that make rest + play a moral failure -- and condition us to believe we’re only okay if we’re working, producing, or creating,

systems of unethical mass advertising that manipulate our longings, push on our pain, and work to convince us we’re not enough -- all in an effort to maximize profit + make us more pliable consumers.

certain systems of religiosity that employ abusive tactics like teaching people they’re inherently bad, demanding obedience to authority, and using shame as a means of control while pretending that’s love.

I believe our work in such a world is to create freedom.

For ourselves + for each other.

By looking closely at what we see + feel + experience as we move through the world,

By asking the deep + real questions,

By naming + acknowledging the harm + the ways it gets in us,

By working gently with our nervous systems to unwind the tangles of these internalized messages that feel like our own,

By dismantling + recreating bits of those systems when + how we can,

By taking care not to replicate patterns of shame, control, and force in our work of liberation, healing, and meaning-making,

By giving ourselves extra care + gentleness when it’s hard,

By learning to live in an imperfect world where hurtful powers + pressures exist -- and doing our best to connect + enjoy life + create beauty anyway,

And by remembering that liberation is not only something that belongs to us -- it's what our souls are made of.

What's your next step toward a deeper + more expansive freedom?