“Isn't there in every human soul...an initial spark, a divine element, incorruptible in this world, immortal in the next, that good can bring out, prime, ignite, set on fire and cause to blaze splendidly, and that evil can never extinguish?”
-Victor Hugo
If you enjoy this publication, please consider a donation.
With the walls of freedom closing inward, how will you choose to respond?
Each individual will come to a point in life where they are faced with an existential fork in the road: to change themselves for freedom or succumb to forces of tyranny.
We tend to hyperfocus on the externalized manifestation of man’s inner struggle. We look at the world around us and see it ablaze. Tyrannical governments infringing on personal freedom, technology desecrating the inherent beauty of nature and civilization harvesting the very soul of mankind.
However, the battle doesn’t exist “out there.”
The real battle is within yourself, fighting to reclaim your mind and lead with the intuitive guidance of your soul.
The external world serves as a mirror for our own internal work. Looking outside can be a great first step towards understanding the dualistic nature of freedom and tyranny, but it is far from half the battle.
Will you have the courage to act on your knowledge, not just in fighting externally, but by recognizing your own responsibility to be the conscious force of change?
Many will forever cling to current levels of comfort preventing them from courageously making change, even if they know in their heart it’s the right thing to do.
However, some of us will inevitably take the leap from transmuting knowledge into action.
If you’re reading this, it’s because you are one of those people.
You can be decisive despite uncertainty.
You can move forward despite the pain of what will be left behind.
You can act despite the unbearable discomfort of doing so.
You can create change.
Together, we will create change.
Identifying the problem and envisioning what to do about it is far easier than actually putting it into action.
The following six pillars of conscious resistance can serve as a foundational tool to greater self-awareness, uprooting any problem and envisioning a future in alignment with your highest ideals.
1. Identify the Problem
“A problem well stated is a problem half solved.”
-John Dewey
You can’t begin to create change without first understanding the root of what you’re up against.
Reflect on what you believe to be the greatest challenge each of the following struggle with:
-You
-Your family/inner circle
-Your local community
-Your nation
-The World
What similarities do you see within each of these as you progress from micro to macro levels of awareness?
The wars you see on a societal scale may not look much different than the wars within your own heart. Look deeper and find the connections.
Surface level thinking is what has created a collective lack of self-awareness and many of the challenges we see in our society today. We won’t solve any of these challenges by thinking in the same way that got us here.
2. Understand Your Role in Creating the Problem
“If you want to change the world, start with yourself.”
-Mohandas Gandhi
With the macro often a reflection of the micro, this brings the burden of responsibility for all of the world’s challenges back to you.
The first step in accepting your own role is acknowledging the fear or pain the problem is rooted in.
We live in a world conditioning us to bury reality. Whether it’s the pain of trauma or the imagination of our dreams, conformity prevents us from seeing through the lens of authenticity.
Begin by taking radical responsibility for where you and the world are at right now. This has the potential to be the greatest comeback story ever told. It wouldn’t have been possible had you not buried yourself into this hole, making all aspects of the past a necessary ordeal.
In many ways, you may currently be dependent on the very existence of the problem. How do the stories you tell yourself reflect and project onto reality? In what ways are you actually benefitting from perpetually remaining a victim, or in conforming to a norm that violates the callings of your heart?
Reflecting on the repeating patterns and themes that have taken place in your own life and how they may be once again playing out. The same goes for beginning to scale up for challenges occurring at the macro level.
In order to make change, you must be willing to let go of what once served you. By acknowledging your role and totality of truth in the situation, you are now ready to begin taking action on constructing a world your heart knows to be possible.
3. Envision the Ideals of a Solution
“Every problem has a solution, you just have to be creative enough to find it.”
-Travis Kalanick
There is a very important distinction that must be made before we can begin to talk about solutions.
Notice, we must envision the ideals of a solution, not a solution itself. Why?
In thinking we can construct an exact solution without knowing the full scope of the journey to come, there is the danger for us to become tyrannical in the imposition of our desired solution.
Who’s to say the world you attempt to create won’t be as much hell as the one you’re already living in? Is your desire to serve others rooted in a search for power and control?
To construct change, begin by focusing on your own moral standing and the ideals of what solutions will be generated from.
What do you stand for? What values do you want to surround yourself with?
If you don’t know your own values, the calls of your own heart, you will construct a world that is void of any true meaning. You will search for control outside of yourself instead of allowing for freedom to live in unpredictability.
You can’t forecast exactly how the path will unfold. Begin to dream, but allow the foundation of that dream to be rooted in the values of your heart, not the material aspect of the dream itself.
The circumstances of the external world will always change, whether you choose to be conscious of it or not. Tyrannical imposition of any solution only repeats the cycle of what you destroyed, but now you are the tyrant.
If you approach each opportunity for action from the space of your ideals, you will never need to worry about tyranny influencing the outcome of change.
Heart lead, brain follow. Even if that means there will be levels of uncertainty, this is an opportunity for you to practice deeper levels of faith in the power of your ideals.
4. Raise Awareness
“Express yourself for those who remain silent.”
Once you understand who you are and your own ideals, you have a duty to live by them with a sense of radical responsibility.
To consider the consequences of doing the right thing is to consider not doing the right thing.
If you choose to remain silent, falling back on the false promises of hope not backed by action, how can you ever expect a change in circumstance to occur?
In the process of raising awareness and living in alignment with your own ideals, you will trigger and lose people who benefitted from the old fear-based narratives you previously constructed.
Those who are dependent on the problem you are seeking to uproot will fight to keep it alive. Without it, they would be forced to construct a new identity beyond the surface level. This is a death and rebirth spiritual transformation that most spend their entire lives avoiding.
However, your commitment to your ideals will be planting the seeds for even those most dependent on the problem to one day break free from it.
The light of authenticity has a tendency to shine a light in the darkest of crevices. Raising awareness without force creates a safe container for others to begin to self-reflect and hone in on their own true ideals.
Speak up and watch others follow your lead.
5. Find the Others
“Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…”
-Timothy Leary
Through radically embodying your authenticity, you will begin to attract in the other people necessary to make change a reality.
How does this work? It comes back to planting seeds.
Community is formed not by immediate affection, but prolonged communication and acquired trust.
Your true thoughts will be revealed in every interaction.
Your true intentions will be revealed through each action or nonaction.
Your true character will be revealed in your willingness to take ownership for the full spectrum of your impact, whether it be positive or negative.
You’ll find the others when you dare to speak, not just about the problems, but what’s living inside your heart.
Tell somebody you love them. Say you’re sorry. Speak against injustice when you’re in its presence.
Don’t be afraid to take a chance on others, because fear will never allow you to find the people you’re meant to build a new world with.
6. Commit to Action
“Run from what's comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on I'll be mad.”
-Rumi
The final step is all encompassing, interchanged within each of the previous steps, and that if your commitment to the process itself.
When the going gets tough, will you have the courage to continue to show up not just for yourself, but the envisioned reality living in your heart?
You may have yet to slay the dragon, but what good will turning back to comfort do now that you know the scope of the problem at hand?
Once awake, you can never go back to sleep.
Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
Ignorance can be forgiven. Passivity cannot.
You have a responsibility to yourself, every person you care about and the world at large to continue to show up and radiate with authenticity.
You will get no assurance that you’ll be rewarded in your battle against tyranny. For every great hero, there is another who comes up short in their pursuit of the highest ideal.
But even in death, at least you can know you showed up to lead from love.
Now is the first moment of the rest of your life.
Where you go from here is totally up to you.
With your newfound awareness on how to consciously resist tyranny, I hope to see you on the battlefield fighting for the soul of mankind.
Donate via PayPal or Venmo to support this content.
Purchase a copy of The Mystical Collection: Poems on Love, Freedom, and Awakening.