How the Work Gets Done

Fear is an incredible motivator
Or at least that’s what we tend to think
The things that I am seeing motivation for
Are concepts like revenge, power shift, and extreme violence
And I’m not saying I blame people
It is scary
It is terrifying
It is disempowering
But fear can change us into people we no longer want to become
Fear clings to the roots of our past traumas, experiences, and nightmares
and floats them up to the surface
causing us to go back in time and suddenly, the person that is
talking
commenting
reacting
is no longer us in the present,
but us from the past.
We say things that are hurtful
to people we don’t even know
and suddenly,
we find ourselves trying to gain,
instead of equality,
power over the oppressor.
But then we become them.
Then nothing is different.
Then we lose ourselves in the fight.
We need to remember,
not who we were,
but who we are.
The skills and strengths and power and love and light and tenacity and perseverance and strategy
are needed now more than ever.
We can fight anything from a fear state without losing something within ourselves
But we can fight everything from a state of strategic action focused on a future bigger than ourselves.
Sure, if we fight and growl and bite
We might free ourselves from the cage that threatens to hold us
But it doesn’t prevent future cages from being built.
This time we have to do things differently
With rage as the fuel
but not the response
We need to work diligently,
crafting networks and collaborative systems that are designed to empower instead of disempower.
We need to keep talking and working
Not just when one cage is broken up
But only, when we realize that cages are serving no one.
So, feel the feels
Curse, scream, cry, shout, clench your fists,
Then take a deep breath,
Remember who you are and what you are actually fighting for,
Remember your values and your passion and your purpose and your skills and your strengths
and get to work on changing the world around you
That is how the work gets done.