todayichooselove.com

It takes a lot of courage to choose Love right now. It’s so much easier to unconsciously get sucked into the anger, drama and fear that’s running rampant through our collective consciousness – make that our collective UN-consciousness. And this collective unconsciousness begins with just two people agreeing to something. Then one more, then one more, then one more. Pretty soon, we have what we often refer to as “mob mentality.”

All it took for the Cowardly Lion in “The Wizard of Oz” to lapse into his knee-knocking, tail-crumpling state of fear was to buy into the Scarecrow’s belief that there were things in the forest that you’re supposed to be afraid of. In short order the Tin Man jumped on the band wagon, then Dorothy joined the panic party. Pretty soon, they were all huddled together, skittery and nervous, afraid of every noise and movement - real or imagined - in the forest. In that mindset they were a helpless and easy target for the attack of the flying monkeys. Not a very healthy way to go through a day - or a life, for that matter.

The good news, however, is that the collective UN-conscious can shift and become more conscious and healthy – it works both ways.

When Dorothy was captured by the Wicked Witch, her timid pals decided that rescuing her was worth moving through their fears. They stepped up. They worked together. Collectively, they chose Love.

And at the end of the movie, all it took was the Wizard, or more accurately, the “man behind the curtain,” to tell them that there were new possibilities, - and voilà! - their perceptions of the world were transformed. With a mere suggestion of a new “truth” about who they were and what they were capable of, they became the embodiment of Courage, Love, Intelligence, and Hope.

Did the world around them change? No. All that changed was that each of them made a new choice; they chose to focus on what was possible rather than on their fears. They chose to focus on Love. Then their world began changing, too.

So, in the midst of all the stock stuff, the mortgage mayhem, the bail-out ballyhoo, and the political pandemonium, you actually DO have a choice.

You can choose which collective mob mentality to contribute your own energies and agreements to, thereby making it more powerful. You certainly can choose anger, drama and fear. Many of us have.

Or you can step up with the rest of us and choose Courage, and Action, and Love… OH MY!

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NOTE: Sending out Love and Thanks to my dear friend, Chet Sisk, who, in his YouTube video announcing his new program, “Welcome to Life Part II,” simply and eloquently shares this concept that it only takes two people to make a new agreement. I know it’s not really a new concept, but it resonated with me, and it made sense to recycle it here. Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT8pHnrgpLQ.

Yeah, that “C” word: Commitment. I’ve got more of it today.

Yesterday I had the privilege of being one of 26 volunteer adult facilitators at a Challenge Day in a Denver high school (see link below). It was a 6-hour emotional roller coaster with 130 ninth-graders to help them – and us adults - better understand that they are not alone in what they’re feeling and experiencing, that aggression, violence and oppression in any form hurts us all, and that they deserve to feel safe, loved and celebrated.

Without going into the details of the day, suffice it to say that it was beyond inspirational. It was the metaphorical Cosmic 2×4 – make that the Cosmic Railroad Tie – whacking me upside my head, not-so-gently informing me that it’s time to take the next giant leap into The Great Unknown of the How, Where and What of my Work: to build a sustainable culture of compassion at home, at work, in our schools, and in the world by breaking what I call “The Cycle of Relationship Illiteracy.”
(www.lauriecameron.com/feartoloveproject.pdf)

It was a heart-wrenching honor to bear witness as these kids dropped many of their masks and revealed the depth of pain, sadness and hurt they’ve been holding in. The lives of EVERY SINGLE ONE of those 130 children has been touched somehow by drugs, alcohol, bullying, physical or emotional abuse, guns, gangs, murder, suicide, racial or religious persecution, incarceration, or harassment - all in the span of 14 or 15 short years of life on this planet.

And a big handful felt like they’ve never even had the chance to be a kid – they’ve never felt safe enough to just play. Pretty sobering.

Here’s where the C-word comes in to this story.

At the end of the day, the two facilitators invited anyone who felt called to step up to the microphone and share what the day had meant to them, and what changes they were going to make in their lives. There were some apologies to fellow students for teasing, and there were thank-you’s to people who were no longer in the child’s life. An adult volunteer who is also a teacher at the school apologized to a student for riding him so hard, and explained that it was because he wants the boy to live up to the great potential he sees in him.

I stepped up. Through tears and sobs, I apologized to each one of them for every adult in their lives that didn’t know how to help them feel safe, or to feel loved and valued as the amazing, beautiful human being each one of them truly is.

Then I made my commitment to them: I promised them that I will push through my own fear-induced procrastination, and I will find a way to do what I’m here to do.

This is not a new commitment. I’ve been gaining clarity and working through my own fears for what seems like a very long time. What’s new is that I made this commitment to THEM; to 130 young men and women who, by their very existence, really DO deserve to feel safe, loved, and celebrated. For some reason, that takes all of this to a new level for me today. And somehow, some way, I will keep my promise to them.

If you want to get involved with Challenge Day, you can find more details at www.ChallengeDay.org.