Six Million Women Marched. Now What? 3 Things You Can Do Right Now That Don't Suck

I've had many conversations with women since the January 21st Women's March that brought over 6 million women together worldwide. And I hear the same question emerging again and again: Now what? How do we keep the momentum and spirit strong, especially during this fast-paced slide backwards into the opposite of the kinder, gentler and more unified world we want?  How do we stay balanced and healthy without being sucked into the energy-draining vortex of fear, anger and urgency ramping up on many fronts all at once? I have three very specific suggestions to share, all sourced from sacred conversations with the wise women in my life, suggestions that nourish and support the whole of who you are, rather than add more duties to your "to do" list to do more, give more, be more.  

#1:  Self-care has never been more important.  

The rapid erosion of compassion in politics is leading many of us to enter head-spinning PTSD mode. While it is important to stay vigilant and engaged by petitioning our government representatives, it is equally important to take breaks from the fray.

We mustn't lose the perspective that what is happening in Washington is not all that is happening. Far from it.  Stay focused on local and unified action that aligns with your values and feeds your sense of hope and engagement. Act, but also take time to be deeply nurtured by favorite pastimes, immersion in nature and silence, meditation and yoga, relationships and family.

Activism is like breathing, we must take time for the nourishing in-breath and that means we don't stay glued to the TV or set an impossible standard to be engaged as an activist every single day.Treat yourself with compassion and care. Take time off to refresh and renew.   

Mantra: You are not on duty. You are on purpose.  

#2:  Having a tribe that shares your values has never been more important. 

If you do not have a tribe, consider starting a women's circle. You can find one using the DF App or you can get free support from Gather the Women Global Matrix, a world-wide all-volunteer network of women who support women's circles. Their work is based on Christina Baldwin's and Anne Linnea's book The Circle Way and Jean Bolen's book, Millionth Circle. 

Mantra:  You aren't saving the world alone. Together we rise!

#3: Disengage from the "hooks" of the old "Never Enough" paradigm,

which include partisan conversations, the need to be right and make others wrong, ingesting fear-based messaging from the media, and taking it personally when someone attacks an idea or person you support. Realize that all of these hooks provide a CHOICE to either engage in "never enough" thought patterns of separation, anxiety and fear or not.

Realize that your energy and time are always better spent focusing on what you can control and what you can contribute. Support things and people who share your values and know that doing so is perfectly enough. We are doing this together and the shift from never enough to enough is (from a wider perspective of evolution and history) inevitable as human consciousness evolves from a "me" perspective (survival of the fittest)  to a "we" perspective (global, unity).

People on the planet today represent a wide spectrum of consciousness, but the collective direction is always towards more inclusive and more compassionate.  Your part is to be the best representative of your current level of consciousness that you can be, and to resist engaging your precious energy at a lower level. That means not sliding back into either-or thinking, blaming or shaming. Stay positive, clear and focused on what you want to manifest in the world and know that is perfectly and divinely enough when you do so. 

Mantra: What you focus on grows, so move from blaming and 

shaming to decisively claiming the world you really want. 

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Laurie McCammon is the author of Enough!  How to Liberate Yourself and Remake the World with Just One Word and editor/co-author of the upcoming Enough! A Companion Guidebook.  

Laurie will be presenting this month at the 25th Annual Women of Wisdom Conference in Seattle Washington February 17 (Opening Keynote) and 18 (One Day Intensive). A la carte pricing. 

www.lauriemccammon.com

www.WeAreEnough.com

FB:  LaurieCMcCammon

Twitter: @EnoughMessage

You can purchase the book Enough! on Amazon 

What Do the Root Cause of Gun Violence and its Solution Have in Common? One Word: ENOUGH

Banner design a collaboration of Laurie McCammon, Ann Smith and her grandson Sacha

It’s on everyone’s lips these days: Why do such horrible mass shootings keep happening? What can we do about it?  

We assume that fixing the world has to be overwhelmingly complex, otherwise we would have fixed it by now.  Too much damage has been done.  We don’t have enough time, money, will, or genius to change the mega trends destroying our world. Humans aren’t capable of changing or rallying together fast enough.  But what if these are only true because we insist on focusing on symptoms rather than on root cause?  

Through three years of research for my book, Enough!  I discovered that humanity’s skewed orientation toward the word “enough” was responsible at a hidden root cause level for most of what we do not want, including scarcity itself.  Here’s what I learned:

                 1.       Even when we use the word “enough” we are more likely to actually
                experience feelings of deficit associated with “never enough.”  

Enough is such a commonly used word that it has an effect on every aspect our lives, whether our self-concept (Am I enough?), relationships (Does he love me enough?), career (There are never enough jobs.), money (How do I get enough, have enough or keep enough?), business, education, politics, and so on.  Our current global culture reinforces the idea that there is not enough and we are not enough – ever.  If we were perceiving “enough” evenly, the word would just as likely generate feelings and actions associated with satisfaction and abundance as fear and lack.  What we tend to see culturally, however, is that scarcity mentality has become an overarching lens of lack through which we interpret the entire world, including ourselves.   We perceive a world in which we are under constant threat of either not having enough or of losing what little we do have.  If we chase to its root each social ill whether terrorism, gun violence, economic insecurity, addiction, climate change, disease, corruption or debt, I believe we find an underlying core belief that we are not enough and do not have enough  - and never will.

2.        Never Enough physiologically distorts our ability to perceive accurately, selecting for the least sophisticated behaviors available to us.  

Never Enough has a cascade effect on our emotions and behaviors: anger that breeds violence; fear and stress that disempower us; deep insecurity and paranoia that lead to greed, aggression, revenge and tribalism.  It is not a far leap to see how any of these paths could lead to gun violence. 

Brain science tells us that when we feel we are under imminent threat, we tend to revert to the most primitive, "reptilian"parts of the brain, the brain stem and cerebellum which are responsible for quick, and usually polarized decision-making and actions known as “fight or flight.”   We become susceptible to leaders who offer simplistic answers and either-or arguments to further polarize people and issues.  When in scarcity mode, we are less likely to access the more sophisticated reasoning capabilities of the neocortex.  We are fooled into thinking that fast and decisive action are better at ensuring our safety than careful consideration, negotiation, fact-finding, collaboration and listening.   

But the neocortex is what distinguishes us as human.  It is responsible for language, abstract thought, imagination, and consciousness.  We should be highly suspicious of any cultural norm  which causes us to be less than we truly are – less curious, less conscious, less imaginative, less in control of our destinies.  Anything that halts consciousness cannot be part of a viable future.  

3.       Enough is the cure to eliminating every social ill.

What surprised me most while researching for the book was that the shift from Never Enough to Enough is already abundantly evidenced in our world,  in the sharing economy, green solutions, technological advances, new sciences, and in spiritual and storytelling wisdom traditions from all over the world.  You start to notice how a belief in Enough leads to better outcomes: innovation, healing, connection, peace, understanding, compassion, creativity, engagement, genius, resilience and yes, even joy.  Whereas the idea of Never Enough causes us to feel fearful, we become more open, trusting, alive and daring when we believe we are enough.  We ask more questions and seek to understand complexity and nuance. We grow in compassion and wisdom.  We feel compelled to speak up for truth and justice. We occupy our more of our brains and hearts, and by doing so, become bigger and more powerful than we have ever been.

4.        Humanity is the last to know the universe is telling an “Enough” Story.

What does the nature of Earth and the universe have to tell us about Enough and Never Enough?  No creature, no living being or system has ever prevailed by adopting a Never Enough strategy.  Every ecosystem we know of is instead an intimately interdependent delivery system of Enough for all, forever.  I take this to mean that humans, as part of nature, are actually Enough creatures by design. Our DNA contains instructions for how to co-create an Enough world.  We’ve simply forgotten.  We’ve spent too many generations locked in the reptilian brain, too used to the norms, rules and structures that have kept us tightly focused on scarcity, devoid of heart and connection. In such a culture, the anguish which would allow a human being to commit mass murder indicates alienation from one’s own divine enoughness.  

The symbol of the anti-gun movement is the hashtag  #ENOUGH.  Let’s make sure we consciously shift the rage, blame and indignation inherent in the old version of  “Enough is enough!” into the more empowering  “We are enough!” and “We have enough!” of today.  Enough attracts and creates enough while a “war against” always engages us in more war.    I vote for a world in which we and future generations know we are enough, where we feel seen and know we are precious and essential, where we no longer need to hurt others in order to assuage our own deep hurt.  

How about you? Do you see the connections between enough as a root cause and a solution? Share your stories on my Facebook or Twitter. 

To learn more about Laurie McCammon's upcoming book (April, 2016), Enough! How to Liberate Yourself and Remake the World with Just One Word, go to www.LaurieMcCammon.com