A Necessary Interruption

Shauna VanBogart here, breaking plans and our scheduled podcast to speak very briefly to whats on my heart and certainly what’s more relevant this week. And to give you a piece of homework instead.

Just Being podcast speaks in depth about self-healing — addressing your wounds, your inner pains, your emotions. I consider this self-work some of the most important work in the world and I feel privileged to play a role in it. 

But being a part of and witnessing an individual heal is not at the core of why I do this work. It is because I know what this kind of self-evolution does on a familial, generational, community and global-level. When you do this work, as hard and painful as it is to look at it and deal with it, what you’re actually doing in this process is increasing your capacity to love. When you connect to your inner child who was wounded, hurt and victimized, you are not just healing — you are quite literally expanding your field of compassion and your ability to empathize. This is actually what I do — not just help them overcome roadblocks but to assist people in becoming brighter and stronger conduits of love, because in doing so, it has an immediate and profound effect on the progression of society as a whole. When a client heals an internal wound, just loving and receiving love becomes easier. They don’t have to effort their way to self-care or trip up on setting boundaries or acting courageously, they organically just step into a place of empowerment. But the higher purpose AND payoff to you doing self-work is that it provides you with the stamina and strength to serve. To take action from a place of love not fear.

But you don’t need to wait to heal yourself to expand your forcefield of love and empowerment so you can serve. This channel opens when we connect to any wound, including the wounds outside of us. It’s the being willing to go there, to hold space for, to engage that cultivates an expansion of love, and thus emotional intelligence and fortitude within ourselves. 

What you are seeing this week are many opportunities to expand your forcefield— our nations and our people’s wounds are playing out for us - quite loudly - calling for our engagement. Racism has always been there. It’s been loud and in our faces before — many many times —  and it’s been far too easy to turn away, to judge it, or to say or think, “What can I possibly do - this is so big ..” Or “It doesn’t involve me, why get involved?” Or even “I’m not a black person so how could I possibly understand or help?” 

When you choose to connect to the wounds of others - not through the filter of judgement, fear, or ego; when you stop and look, listen, engage and refuse to turn away, no matter how painful it may feel or as uncomfortable as it is … what you’re doing in that moment is committing to being a part of the solution our country so desperately needs by becoming a conduit of love. To use the luxury of your privilege to champion for your fellow brothers and sisters who have been discriminated and oppressed for centuries — not because it’s just the right thing to do but because you KNOW in your soul, in your heart, that living a life of freedom only means something if they can participate with you.

So instead of listening to my episode this week, I want to turn your attention instead to three incredible podcasts from black voices who speak to the systematic racism that still exists in our country. And if you don’t think this small and effortless action on your part does not make a difference, please listen to what I’m saying here — when you connect with these voices, attune, and use the tool of your listening ear to hear the stories and the voices behind them - to find empathy in the wounds of your community and these citizens in it … consider it an act of necessary self-expansion. I know you want to help - consider attuning to these voices as your homework so you can have the stamina for your actions. Build up your forcefield of love through the connection and empathy you will feel when you listen. lBecause love is the most powerful resource in this world - a force more powerful than hate that leads to profound movement and action that is not just seemingly obligatory but whole-heartedly necessary. Be a student of these voices, it will make you strong. It will make you courageous. It ill make you discerning. So that you can continue to take whatever action you feel compelled to take from the motivation of love, not fear. 

Here are my three podcast recommendations:

Intersectionality Matters! - Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory. (LINK: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/intersectionality-matters/id1441348908)
- I specifically recommend the episode “A Mother’s Nightmare: The Life & Death of Korryn Gaines” for its intimate look at fear and the story of a 23-year-old black woman who was killed in her own home by police in 2016.

1619 - A profound, historical work of art by the New York Times hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones (LINK: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1619/id1476928106).  - This entire series, five episodes in length, is incredible. 

Code Switch - Fearless conversations about race, hosted by journalists of color, tackling the subject of race head-on and produced by NPR. (LINK: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch)  

- Their most recent episode titled, “A Decade Of Watching Black People Die” hosted by and Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby is especially powerful. 
 

We all have work to do. Let’s start here.