Home   >   Feature   >   Conscious optimism vs. lazy, pseudo-spiritual optimism. Please make a choice. by @DanielleLaPorte

Conscious optimism vs. lazy, pseudo-spiritual optimism - SW

By on August 1, 2015
Danielle LaPorte

By Danielle LaPorte

I posted a #truthbomb a while back: “If you’re not a feminist, you’re missing the point.” That got a lot of Yesses! and Yeahs! And then this kind of stuff: “Wouldn’t it be better if we were all humanists?”…“How about all being spiritualists?”…“We’re all in this together.”

All I can say is: Please. Wake the “f” up.

Clitoral mutilation. Acid burning. Rape as a tactic of war. Sex trafficking. Wage gaps. Just for starters. Show me wide-spread, women-inflicted violence against men and then tell me we shouldn’t all be Feminists. Not humanists. Not generalists. Not spiritualists. But people who assert themselves very specifically for the liberation and honouring of WOMEN. Those would be called FEM-I-NISTS.

But, actually, this isn’t about feminism. (I know, you want me to keep ranting because it’s a hot one.)

What I’m preaching about today is:

1) waking up
2) so you can do the work
3) that needs to be done
4) to live in a world
5) we espouse to want to live in.

Because this is what I see happening in some spiritual circles: Unconscious optimism. Woo woo positivity blanketing. Convenient denial. (And you know, I’m about as woo as they come. See here: Healers. Crystals. Astrology. Goddess Kali.) I’m also a pragmatist. And a hard smart worker.

Devoid of much action-orientation, I see/hear this too much in spiritual material: It’s all going to be okay. Our enlightenment is inevitable. It’s all progress. All is well.

And actually, I believe all that — wholeheartedly. But it’s only half of the whole picture. I ALSO believe that: We could really screw the human race and take down Mother Earth with us. I can hold two seemingly opposing beliefs because of THIS belief: Free will. Having free will means that ascension or devolution are both options. It’s up to us.

WORK TO BE DONE

In some countries, getting discovered for being homosexual can get you imprisoned; and if you’re a female who is raped and thus “soiled”, your community will banish you or stone you to death. Our global food production system is pummeling the planet and feeding us “food” that is devoid of nutrients and full of toxins. We’re worshipping plasticized people who make obscene amounts money promoting excess and idiocy. Race issues darken our hearts and societies with violence. False prophets abound. So many spirits are bereft, obese with consumption and comparison.

There’s a lot of evidence for being utterly hopeless about humans. It’s understandable that we’d want to reach for the comfort of New Age slogans like, “All is well.”

Naively believing that the universe is just working out its issues because a spirit channellor told you so, is the same mentality that makes cults work. The cosmos is not going to intervene to save us. It doesn’t work that way. Nothing is inevitable. Because…free will.

So that vision of the world we want to live in…it requires wide awake optimism to create it. Those lives “of service” so many of us are trying to live… Service is being informed. Service is being enraged. Service is keeping your heart open even when you’re enraged. Service is being ruthlessly honest about the facts — and then choosing to be optimistic. Service is fuelling your optimism with action. (And yes, meditation counts as action.)

How do you not feel overwhelmed? Where do you start? You start by looking at the hard stuff. Feel the pain. Entertain despair. And then…pick a cause and fight for it. Buy less shit. Eat real food. Treat people really well. Pray. Send light. Send cash. Send more light. Pick up some garbage — both the karmic and material kind — and transform it with your attention.

Atrocities and magnificence. Silence and action. Feminists. Humanists. Spiritualists. Wide awake, together. The light on the planet is growing! We evolve only when we create worldly solutions for our spiritual vision.

All love,

Danielle

 

Danielle-32-682x1024
Danielle LaPorte is many things, not the least of which are: an author, truth speaker and most recently the creator of the Desire Map program. Get to know her better at daniellelaporte.com.

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