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Secrets in the Shadow

This article reflects the gist of a conversation I recently had with someone, around the idea that we should tolerate and allow the airing of the right, fascist exclusive narrative as “the other side” of left inclusive narrative. 

 Today, we are seeing a dangerous upsurge in divisiveness, a splitting apart of the beautifully woven many hued fabric called humanity. I’m reflecting today about the many people I have worked with over the years whose ancestors had to flee Nazi persecution. A few of the people I have worked with are Holocaust survivors. I have listened to their experiential stories. Besides jewish religion people, peoples from many different countries were caught up in this planet wide annihilation: imprisoned for the duration of the war, beaten, killed, families forever torn apart. We have come full spiral around and the reason is to pick up the unhealed pieces that we carry and decide who we are moving forward.

 So, I have a story. 

 Many years ago, a beautiful family, 4 children, lived contentedly in Romania. World War II, the war to end all wars, broke out. One night, late, while everyone was in bed sleeping, German soldiers came rolling in with their tanks, marching into town. They called everyone out into the streets. It was very cold. The children rested in their parents arms, unable at this late hour to even keep their eyes open. They were told that their homes were being commandeered as housing for soldiers and a command post for operations. There was only a short time for the people of this community to gather the most immediate belongings and start marching down the street and away from their homes. What else could they do? So they left. 

 How do I know this? A woman came to me who had been in a terrible and life threatening car accident. She could not orient to her life and was in constant physical and emotional pain. She felt a constant deep insecure feeling, and did not feel at all secure in her home. The above story is her parent’s story and at the time I knew nothing about this, and some parts of this story, neither did she. She had to ask her Mom, who blessedly is still alive.What I saw during her first consultation with me, was a shadow aspect of her that was still standing at the corner where the accident occurred. She had fragmented. She was no longer whole. The gift of this horrific accident was that she was able to address her unconscious loyalty to her mother and their family, by not having a home, by leaving behind a piece of herself, like her parents, in the above traumatic event. The pain she was experiencing was her opportunity to heal what had been plaguing her (and 2 of her siblings also); no sense of home, undefined and subtle but pervasive anger and fear. Submissiveness. She had the tenacity and courage to move through this ancestral dynamic and change not only her life, but bring new light and potential into the life of her daughter and other family members. 

 I say all this and tell this story because the canary in the cage is sounding the alarm and we must decide what we stand for. To continue on a divisive and destructive path that is fueled by anger and fear dishonors the legacy of all who do and have suffered. We’ve been there, done that. Suffering is NOT a human condition, it is a man-made construct designed to disempower and control YOU. It is time for reconciliation: to heal; for us to become aware and whole. To choose to come together, not to fragment further. To thrive together. Our planet is us. We are our planet. Let there be love on Earth and the gift of love, of togetherness, of caring, is peace. Choose to heal. 

Cynthia Mellon