How do we connect to our inner – and collective – strength during these challenging times? This is the question that Garrison Institute Board member Kaira Jewel Lingo sets out to address in her latest reflection for Lion’s Roar.
Kaira reminds us how crucial it is to tend to the present moment, for “the future is made only of this moment.” Encouraging us to draw strength from the “energy of awakening each of us has inside” by connecting to our breath and body, she also speaks to the power of anchoring in the good around us – in our communities, our ancestors, our country.
She describes her efforts to “depolarize” her mind by consciously engaging with people who think differently from her so that she can respond to injustice and hatred with love in her heart. Because, as Thich Nhat Hanh, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other spiritual leaders have taught, when we respond to hate with love, we are planting seeds for profound transformation.
Poster by Ricardo Levins Morales
