“Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be, the future’s not ours to see, Que sera, sera…” I am confident that I have done all that I can around this election to help create positive change. I am also certain that being attached to those efforts and stressing about their impact serves nothing and no one. “Be not attached to the fruits of your labor” Krishna advises Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. The play that we are all a part of is much bigger than all of us. We are not the playwright or director except for the way we react or respond to reality—pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral are the choices of the mind, constantly changing from one to the next.
We are aware that we must build our immune systems and to do those things that keep us healthy and vital in the face of the virus but, we also have to build our immune system to our collective psychic disease and mental madness known as social media. Being obsessed with every play by play, fleeting poll and prediction will only weaken our immunity and we will be on a roller coaster of mental and emotional upheaval no matter who wins. As part of self-care, I will be off of social media and all forms of the news from Sunday evening till Wednesday afternoon.
(Listen to music, read poetry, listen to the talks of Eckhart Tolle, do MOR yoga, hike, bake several pumpkin pies, be with family and friends…)
In 2016 I taught my weekly Tuesday evening class which was on election night and again first thing Wednesday morning the day after the election. Even back then I asked students to shut off their phones and to leave them off for the night. Most couldn’t do this and after a deep practice designed to elevate our collective stress, they immediately turned on their phones before leaving class. I could actually see their skin tone turning grey… They had moved from connection and grounded stillness to victim. We are only the victim to anything and anyone once we react. Both yoga and meditation help create some distance between reacting and responding and from being attached to how we conceptualize reality. “Just breath” has become such an obnoxious passive-aggressive statement, but if we can do that it will help bring us in a moment that is free of drama and the reality that we are not the drama but just a breathing, safe and alive human.
I will again be teaching my Tuesday night 6:PM class on election night and not only invite all of you to join in but we will do a Zoom POTLUCK DINNER after class (7:45-8:30) to delight in our community and to stay off of the news and free of speculation for as long as possible. Please join us anytime. We are in this together.