We face enormous challenges in these times, personally, relationally, culturally, as citizens of the world. There is no need to list what these are. Almost everyone now is aware. There are of course, as there always are, a few people who somehow manage to keep their heads comfortably buried in the sand. Insane Nero's, fiddling obliviously as Rome burns?
Our president elect tells us candidly, and his views are backed up by the "experts", that things will get worse - economically - before they get better, and that there are no quick or easy fixes on the horizon. "Sacrifice" is now a national theme. "Vision" is another one. We have to think in terms of sustainability regarding energy, the environment and the ecology; we must re-establish America's severely compromised moral stature in the world, by removing support for torture and other heinous behaviors, for example; we must work toward basic health care, employment, affordable college education and decent housing for all; we must be willing, whenever and wherever possible, to communicate respectfully and intelligently with our adversaries.
These agendas will be coupled with, and served by, corporate accountability and political transparency. We have seen how a lack of these qualities has created disaster, at home and abroad; disaster which has touched everyone, or which will, soon enough.
In my work as a therapist, I find the parallels between personal/relational concerns and the issues that play out on the grand scale of international and domestic politics, to be striking. I'd go so far as to say that unresolved personal issues are, to a large extent, responsible for the travesties we witness repeatedly on the world stage. How can we expect skillful, collaborative, respectful relations between countries, for example, when we can't even communicate well with our partner? We can see our personal struggles as a microcosm of the very same struggles that we see occurring politically around the globe.
I invite you to use 2009 as an opportunity to do your personal work. If you are among those who hope for a better world, you will be able to make a much more significant contribution to that world by addressing your own areas of wounding and conflict. As they say, peace begins with me.
www.matthewdavid-lpcc.webs.com
