Harness the Power of your Rage
In light of the atrocity’s and devastation we are witnessing in Palestine, and across the globe I have been thinking on rage.
Rage is messy, its open mouth hysterical crying, rib breaking grief and screaming so loud you hear only white noise. Anger vibrates through your nervous system clenching your muscles, sending electric shocks through the brain. It’s a sharp tongue, a clenched fist, bared teeth and bulging veins in your neck. You are not supposed to feel anger with grace. You feel anger with passion. Rage is not to be feared, numbed or processed with poise. You need to express to process. You need to feel. It’s the heat of your rage that illuminates hurt, injustice, grief and danger. A bright flashing arrow pointing towards the areas in your life and in this world that need changing. "Without anger, without rage we are complicit with injustice"- unknown source.
Right now we are experiencing collective rage and grief. Rage can be an intimidating feeling, often activated alongside the fight or flight reflex. When we shy from rage we may experience a flight reflex that manifests as looking away, ignoring or refusing to engage with the trigger. While a freeze reflex may manifest as denial. When we welcome rage we create an opportunity to harness it's power. To breathe into the feeling, and create space for the feeling so we can take action from the feeling, and make conscious choices aligned with our values. For example, the value for human life, liberation and freedom. We do not need to find peace in rage, bypass it or suppress it. Like any other emotion we must feel rage, process it and express it. In doing so we create the space to take action towards addressing the trigger that enraged us.
Harness the power of your rage. Allow the heat to fuel you desire for justice on behalf of yourself and others.
Harnessing your anger starts with feeling and is processed via listening for answers to questions like "what am I angry about and why?", "What is in my control?", "what power do I have to change this?". You can then channel your rage into your values and alchemise it through your passions. Passions for speaking, writing, moving, performing, communicating and more. Know what you love, do what you love and use your skills, passions, strengths to speak your truth and make waves.
It’s human to feel hopeless in a world descended into chaos. The worst part. Often it's chaos we can’t control. So we must shift. Shift towards what we can control - our choices. Our choice to welcome fear and face anger. Our choice to utilise its fire as motivation then act from a place of alignment with your values and shared humanity.
Food for thought. Considerations.
We must care for ourselves so we can care for others. Compassion fatigue and burn out are real. Take time to replenish your wellbeing. This does not mean slipping into denial and avoidance. It means acknowledging you need care to be caring.
We all have our strengths so acknowledge yours and hone in! If you're unsure what your strengths are look to your passions, look to the crafts and skills that bring you nourishment when you use them. Funnel energy into this tool and use its power to bring healing, light love and passion into this world.
To project your light upon the shadows you must first acknowledge where they lie! Look internally, acknowledge your darkness and shine the light! Look externally, acknowledge the darkness and shine your light! - The world is screaming for support this is not the time to shy away from the dark, acknowledge the power of your light and shine it bright!
The healing of this world starts with us! Our passions differ for a reason, we need healers in every corner. Follow your heart and use your skills and strengths to build a life that nourishes and liberates.
Harness your rage. Allow it guide you. It tells when it's time to speak up, show up and stand up for yourself and others.
You are but one force in a collective and when we feel together, express our pain and stand for collective justice, safety and liberation we create energetic waves that ripple far beyond what you can see.