The Slap Seen Around The World

We've all felt that anger and rage bubble up inside of us and had visions of hitting, punching, slapping someone at some point or another during our journey called life. If we were wise we never acted out those visions dancing around our angry minds. But sometimes the anger gets the best of us and we find ourselves lashing out with our words or our bodies. What happened at the 2022 Oscars was actually such an IMPORTANT moment for the Collective healing, as well as Will Smith's and Chris Rock's. People need to see things to be able to understand and relate to those things in themselves and each other... to realize we are emotional creatures and at times we have all overreacted or acted from these wounded spots within us, spreading that damage in self, others, and the world... that we aren't perfect, no matter how much we'd like to be or pretend to be, and we sometimes get it wrong, and that it's good and okay and necessary to own our less than perfect selves and reactions and make amends to any we may have wounded with them... that we are never wrong for our emotions/feelings, as no feeling is right or wrong, it simply is, but that we don't need to ACT from those negative feelings unless we seek to grow more negativity from our actions. Point in question, if I'm angry, I have every right to be angry, to feel angry, but if I act from that anger and strike someone or say mean things to them then I generate/create MORE anger from my actions, spreading it through me and them. This prolongs the pain and continues the wounding, both in me and the world. But, I can choose to acknowledge how I feel and communicate in an honest and respectful way to help the other understand that their actions or words impacted me negatively, as I seek to reflect on myself why those feelings were brought up and what past or previous encounters they are stirring up within me--the repeated wounding that is coming up in the present moment giving me another chance to change the pain into pure presence. Obviously, the other is not responsible for how I feel, but to have productive, healthy relationships it is important to have open honest dialogues where each side is able to speak and share their feelings and try to see things and understand from the other side.

We have come a long way in civilization, in the old days, a man could rightfully declare a duel to the death for a sleight to his wife's honor. Inappropriate as it was, this was a husband defending his wife's honor. This was a slap, seen around the world. Violence is hardly ever an answer, although, for some, it's the only language they speak or understand. It is interesting to me that it happened during Aries season, ruled by the planet Mars, the planet of war and aggression. Aries energy is a Cardinal Fire sign. Fire signs are feisty, hot, can be temperamental. Aries are the Pioneers and The Warriors. Cardinal signs (Aries/Spring, Cancer/Summer, Libra/Autumn, Capricorn/Winter) are the signs that get the energy moving, kick off the different seasons, and can be aggressive, each sign in its own way. Either way, the incident was the perfect example of an emotional overreaction to an obviously sensitive spot, a husband defending his family/wife, and forgetting he and she are part of the public domain, and comedians are SUPPOSED to make fun of people--that's their job. But it also makes people think about the weight of their words and how these words can sting just as much as a physical slap, sometimes even more so, because while the slap stings for a bit the tenderness eventually fades, but the words can end up echoing in the wounded minds, taunting and haunting, hurting us over and over again.

We all try to do our best, but sometimes our best is bad, and that's okay as long as we clean up the mess we make and strive to be and do better while giving others the right to all their feelings and the room to make their mistakes as we all grow together. This being human is not neat and perfect, nor is it always easy and fun, for we are perfectly imperfect beings, messy and miraculous. But for all the pain, there is a purpose and it helps us to understand and appreciate ourselves and each other on deeper levels.

Developing self-control and maintaining a state of equilibrium and balance amidst the chaos of life is part of our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual mastery. As we progress through the sometimes turbulent, sometimes calm emotional oceans within ourselves and our psyches we may find ourselves being slapped in the heart and face with the pain we or others hold within. We need to be able to pause before we react, to realize though the outside world may stir up certain feelings inside of us, they are our feelings and we are responsible for them, just as much as we are responsible for our actions. We need to be aware of what we contain within, able to see it and say it, speak it out and share our feelings, understand why we and others feel the ways we do so that we move them from hidden and hurting inside of us, causing us to lash out, to being seen and accepted with the heart's compassionate understanding, allowing healing to happen in us and others in the world around us. May we all heal from the tremendous pain we carry as the Collective and allow more LOVE to flow through us out into the world.

All my love,

Jamie Ferry