Our Inner Compass is Irreplaceable
“My daily challenge to myself is to be part of the solution, to be a joyful warrior in the battle to come.”
When are the moments that you’ve felt most in touch with your inner compass? Have you ever felt in touch with that small, brave voice inside? What has it whispered to you during moments of hope?
How can we find our inner compass in order to bring forth our unique gifts? So many of our people are lost to chronic depression, illness, spiritual desolation, and inability to extract themselves from the destructive capitalistic machine long enough to take a deep, cleansing breath. Many many more of our people are lost in wars and violence - eyes closing for the last time due to some far away entity’s political stance. Money, greed, power, and stress.
Yet, we live. We continue living. Our inner compass waits quietly inside, bearing through addictions and fear, biding it’s time during psychological dry spells, always present.
I ask these questions not because I have the answers already, or even an assumption of what the answers might be, but because I am interested and believe in what those answers hold for humanity.
“When I dare to be powerful — to use my strength in the service of my vision — then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
As a High Sensory Processing person, (Sensory processing sensitivity is a temperamental or personality trait involving "an increased sensitivity of the central nervous system and a deeper cognitive processing of physical, social, and emotional stimuli". Wikipedia), I am often flooded with emotion when I see our unhoused community. Our family. I imagine each of them in their mother’s arms as a newborn. It gives me chills to wonder what their purpose for being here is, and anguish as I see the inability of our society to help them carry it out.
One might say that this is an extreme example of lost purpose, but it is also a prevalent one. The table below charts the impact of missing rent payments in America for those of varying income levels. We can clearly see that those incomes below 30 percent of area median income (which varies by location, but is roughly equivalent to the poverty level), faced severe consequences for financial instability.
Source: American Housing Survey data, 2013. The exhibit is reproduced from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Worst Case Housing Needs: 2015 Report to Congress. Office of Policy Development and Research, April 2015
“Even adversities in childhood seem to play a role to the risk of later homelessness and this supports the need for improved social interventions aimed at antecedents for street involvement and family problems. An increased focus on the risk of homelessness when leaving prison might also reduce homelessness. Also, people with a history of suicide attempt, drug use problems, and other psychiatric problems seem to require extra support and awareness from health care and social services to avoid that these health problems lead to social exclusion in the longer run. The strongest risk factors are in themselves important to intervene against, but with this review, their association with homelessness has become clearer. Even in the case of non-modifiable risk factors, it would then also be prudent to have a special focus on these at-risk groups, and to tailor prevention efforts and interventions to the needs of these groups.”
It appears that one way we might support each other in holding onto our inner compass is to provide social support. The rise of mutual aid with the Covid-19 pandemic provided tangible resources as well as mental health support to marginalized communities. It also brought to light how difficult it is to have lack of access to care, resources, and plain help. The book “American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal” by Kerri Kelly, has also illustrated to me how my privilege has allowed me to live in a bubble. I want to break that bubble now, once and for all, and allow myself to support the communities that need a voice.
How can any of us truly succeed without the other? We cannot. The world is increasingly focused on profit and “progress” over connection. As a single parent, I am quite privileged to be able to near extended family who can help watch over my child and provide emotional support to both of us. However, there are still times where I can I feel desolate, overwhelmed, and lost.
What always brings me back to center is receiving support or companionship. A playdate with another mother, a simple conversation at the gym, or a FaceTime with my best friend. As we are pushed further into class inequality, I fear that these social opportunities are disappearing for those of us who are struggling. The stress of squeaking out a living does not leave us with much time or energy for seeking connection and humanity. But this is where it is all lost. We need each other. For inspiration, to fall in love, to hold, to cry, and to laugh with. Our inner compass is connected to the experience of being human together, and without that, it can feel hard to access.
I vote for vulnerability as a way to respect and honor our inner compass. Share your struggles with your friends and neighbors. Show us your humanity. How many cases of child abuse could be prevented if the parents had more support? We clearly see in the studies above that adverse childhood experiences are a risk factor for homelessness. Parents with mental health issues need support. Individuals need support. We cannot rely on our healthcare system to provide this for us. Mutual aid, community, and honesty lead us to the experience of feeling more human, more connected.
An important goal for Kali Rose Organics is to be able to provide free community events; designed to help reduce stress and create safe outdoor spaces for individuals and families to connect and experience some levity in regards to how the world is today. Another goal we hold is the ability to donate some of our sales to the Amah Mutsun Land Trust (https://www.amahmutsunlandtrust.org/) as a sign of respect to the traditional peoples whose land we reside and work on.
These are a few things that my inner compass is speaking to me about. I would love to hear what yours is saying to you today. Please feel welcome to leave your comment below. May you walk in beauty and peace.
