reclaiming the word ‘resistance’

I have something to share.

I have started a weekly Zoom group that (for now, anyway) I’m calling Community.

Community is free of charge. It’s a safe space to share our feelings and support each other. It’s also a place for us to galvanize, mobilize, organize, and talk about what we can do to help those most affected by the impending transition in our government.

If each of us is a spoke in the wheel - living our lives and contributing how we can - Community is a hub where we come together to recharge and get inspired.

Through love and intention we become part of the resistance.

Because love is also resistance.

If you’re interested in joining Community, you can visit this link. There are some ground rules for joining, so you’ll need to fill out a short form and agree to the guidelines before you receive the meeting link.

It’s my intention to keep this space safe for everyone.

While the past week has been a lot to handle, it’s also firing me up. Allowing myself to be in touch with everything that I’m feeling - and holding space for others’ feelings - is inspiring me to be creative, to share my thoughts, to write, and to organize.

Don’t get me wrong, I wish the situation were different. But I’m becoming excited about helping to make our country and world a better place to be.

For ALL people…not just some.

Today I’m reclaiming the word resistance.

Words by themselves are neither inherently good nor bad. A word is a collection of letters. A word is a sound. A word is a symbol. And most words can mean different things. So words are often symbols with interchangeable meanings.

Take, for example, the word lose. Is it positive or negative?

The word lose has negative connotations. You fear you will lose someone close to you. Or maybe you’ll lose your home. Or you might lose a favorite earring.

But lose has positive associations too. You might lose a few pounds and feel healthier. Or someone’s chasing you and you lose them by turning off the path.

The word lose is not good or bad; it all depends on the context.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the word resistance.

I’m thinking specifically about resisting hate, resisting discriminatory laws, and resisting oppressive ideologies.

I have to admit, I haven’t thought about the word resistance all that much in my life. While I’ve read about the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter movements as exercises in resistance, I haven’t personally participated in them…in part due to my unearned security and privilege…and unconscious complacency…as a white person in this country.

To add complexity, I have spent years following spiritual and self-help teachings. In many ways, this has been good for me. However, I feel the best way to use such teachings is to ‘take what you want and leave the rest.’ Because while certain ideas can set us free, others can bind us. And the word resistance is one of those ideas.

For a time, I followed a teaching that uses the word resistance negatively. As this teacher explains, we can either flow with life, free of resistance, and mostly good things will happen to us; or we can grip at life and try to control it, or spend our time focusing on what’s wrong. In the latter case we’re stuck in resistance. We’re resisting the flow of life.

I don’t completely disagree with the analogy. Flowing with life is a great skill to have; likewise, I can see why you wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time focusing on what’s wrong.

In my last email about feeling your feelings, I distinguished an emotion…for instance, a feeling of anger moving through you and releasing, from an attitude…for instance, holding a grudge and becoming resentful.

I can certainly see why resistance in the form of an attitude could keep you from flowing with life.

But all teachings can be interpreted too literally. Only regarding resistance as negative keep us from seeing how resistance is also positive.

If resistance can block the flow of what’s good, resistance can also disrupt what’s not good.

Let’s take the example of injustice. Imagine I’m walking down the street and I witness someone being harmed. When I jump in and distract the offender, call for help, or hold out my hand to the person being hurt, I am resisting the perpetration of harm. I’m bringing attention to the abuser. I’m offering myself as an ally to the person who is being hurt.

In this case, my resistance is in the name of love.

My resistance is in the name of safety.

My resistance is in the name of justice and kindness.

At this moment in time, each of us has the ability to help the world be more loving, fair and just. Whether we assist someone in harm’s way, call out oppressive systems, or join a cause that helps a population that has been marginalized.

Our acts of service are also acts of resistance.

I can think of no better service right now than acts of love through resistance.

And to be honest, I can think of nothing worse right now than to be silent; to be content with the unearned privileges and comforts I have while others are being stripped of theirs…or have never enjoyed them at all.

So I’m taking the word resistance back.

Loving resistance.

I’d like to end with this thought. If you’re still reading, you may be resonating with what I’m saying. So hear me when I say:

Everything that’s happened to you in your life - good and bad - has trained you for this moment in time.

You have really solid training.

Use it wisely.

Because the world needs you.

Join Community here. Or schedule a free 60-minute connection call to chat with me. And for more juicy life stuff, check out my podcast, coming home (to yourself). As always, may your week be filled with self-love and rich insights. With love, Amy ♡♡♡