When I look around me at how people on social media are responding to the war in the Middle East, what I see is not “who my friends are and who my enemies are.” Although I’m human (and I’m Jewish) and I certainly feel that at times.
What I see is that, when something very scary is happening, humans instinctively, reflexively jump to side-taking, to binary thinking, to nationalism, to viewing large groups of individuals as monoliths of identity and morality.
I’m human too, of course. I feel this impulse. It’s an innate fear response. It’s what our nervous systems are designed to do in response to acute danger.
But it’s not a long-term solution for living together on this planet.
I’ve been feeling hopeless and despondent as many of us have. And I’ve been questioning what my purpose is, what the point of my work is in a world so filled with senseless violence.
As the days and weeks are passing, this is where I’m coming to:
My privilege is having enough immediate safety around me to choose to do the things that calm and settle my nerves. That help me return to feelings of love and warmth for myself and for others around me.
And by doing that, I’m able to sit and hold space for my immediate friends, family and clients too. To contribute to their feelings of safety.
And by doing that each in our own small way, in our own little corners of the world, we are contributing to the collective energy of love, of harmony, of safety. The energy that allows our nervous systems to settle from a place of fight and flight to a place where mutuality, connection and care become possible.
This might not be the path that feels right for you in this moment. And we need the people who speak out and make noise and push for change in the world. We also need the people who hold safe spaces so that we can settle our nerves enough to access a place of love, mutuality and cooperation that we can productively move forward from. If you are one of those people, I believe you’re playing an important role.
Sending love.
[If you’re seeking organizations that are working for peace, Standing Together is a grassroots Arab-Jewish movement fighting for peace, equality and social justice in Israel-Palestine.]
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Previously Published on Medium
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Photo Credit: iStock
