This is a sacred space and I don’t want people to think it is getting political. What I feel I must write about today doesn’t feel political to me (and labeling it as such seems to be a big part of the problem).

This is a human issue.

This is absolutely about the sacredness of life.

I am a sacred vessel. You are a sacred vessel.

Every single person on this planet is a sacred vessel.

So why are we destroying this idea of sacredness in such painful and horrific ways?

Here in the United States, we just began a crazy season, marked by Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, whatever you want to call it Sunday, Cyber Monday, and we finally arrive at Giving Tuesday. Can’t we give more and consume less?

And while we all shopped (granted, I did too, taking advantage of sales on things I needed like probiotics and vitamin D), how many people died violent and unnecessary deaths? Too many.

How many people were scared to walk home in their own neighborhoods? Too many.

How many people remained incarcerated for crimes they didn’t commit or because their sentences were excessive for non-violent crimes? Too many.

How many lies did politicians spew? Too many.

How much hatred did we throw at each other? Too much.

None of this feels very sacred to me.

I could, as some people do, stop paying attention. I do take in a lot less news than I used to, but I am a citizen of the world and know that it is important to keep a pulse on what’s going on around me. That does not mean I need 24 hour news coverage of events that have no relevant updates and are sensationalized so that we all become numb to what’s happening.

If I hide from it all, if you do, that doesn’t make it go away.

What I do, what I have found myself doing more and more, is taking time to focus on gratitude in these moments when so little feels sacred anymore. When life itself is used as a political weapon, dividing us instead of uniting us.

I am grateful for the simple things.

As my daughter was having a rough night (and who knows, she soaks in energy that she doesn’t even know is there, and the energy is certainly rough right now), I calmed myself and started saying what I was grateful for instead of letting her anger and frustration become alive in my body too.

And so I said,

I am grateful for the calm morning we had together today.
I am grateful that you got to spend time with Za (my dad) before he went away.
I am grateful that you and mama and dadu got to eat dinner together.
I am grateful that you express your feelings.
I am grateful for you.
I am grateful that you love me.

“Mama, stop!” She yelled. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sharing what I’m grateful for because it helps me to calm down,” I told her. It grounds me. It didn’t calm her down, but I hope that as she continues to see me practice this that it becomes part of her experience and her practice as well.

Because what we think, say, and do, has an impact on everyone and everything around us.

We all have the power to heal through the energy we choose to radiate out into the world, through the things we choose to say, through the way we choose to act.

To me, it’s all about the sacredness of life.

When we can hold love and and compassion in our hearts for every single being on this planet, because we’ve all seen hard times, when we can focus on the gratitude and positivity instead of the hatred and excessiveness, when we can live all of that, then we are living sacred lives, and then we keep the hope alive that together we can build a world that sees the sacredness of life, in every being, in every moment, in every breath.