I'm inspired by human spirituality across all cultures. I am deeply familiar with a few of them, vaguely familiar with a few more, and mostly ignorant about the rest. I also take inspiration from outside of strictly spiritual sources, and I plan on weaving all of that together in this project.
Just the same, I don't want this project to be about my frameworks in and of themselves. We don't all need to use the same system or practice the same way. In recovery, we have the idea of using a framework "of my own understanding" that helps us move away from conversations about any specific higher power.
That's why I decided to compartmentalize this project around what I'm calling "pillars of liberation" rather than aspects of specific systems of thinking. In this context liberation can be personal or collective, within us or outside of us.
We are set free individually when we heal, and socially when we are surrounded by healing. These are the Pillars of Liberation and how they fit in to this idea.
Vision
When I'm sitting in confusion and pain, I tend to focus on my immediate survival needs. This limits my ability to set plans and goals for myself and my community. Vision means cultivating hope and optimism, projecting them into the future, and making them real. Read more.
Empowerment
People who care more about money and power than other people are hurting, and so they hurt others. One way they do that is convincing us to give away our power so they can have more of it. Empowerment means unlearning all the ways they've done this and discovering our own strength. Read more.
Awareness
Tuning in to our inner state, and what's going on around us takes courage and practice. It isn't easy to name abuse when the person is a loved one, or to admit we placed our trust in a leader who failed us. We we cultivate awareness, we choose to love ourselves enough to tell ourselves and each other the truth. Read more.
Autonomy
There's more to freedom than choosing from 56 different varieties of toothpaste. And it's easier to go along with something that's already in motion than to chart our own course in a new direction. Yet, this is exactly what's needed sometimes. Autonomy means affirming one's own choices and taking action to achieve them. Read more.
Wisdom
One of the scariest aspects of modern life is how mass media lies to people while the answers they need are a web search away. But what good is that information if we can't piece it together in alignment with reality? Wisdom means holding the tension between knowing, and not knowing, without falling prey to speculation or deceit. Read more.
