Liberation is a relationship.
A relationship with the people in your space.
A relationship with the systems surrounding you.
A relationship with the environment you find yourself in.
A relationship with yourself.
Liberation is a Relationship
Yet we’re not generally super good at relationships. Most of us haven’t had or been exposed to a model of a relationship where all the parties involved were seen, heard, cared for, and respected. We’ve rarely, if ever, experienced unconditional acceptance and love.
And this lack creates wounds.
Wounds that, no matter how hard we try to hide them, surface to cause pain and wreak havoc.
But we don’t have to settle for this pattern caused by our conditioning.
We can make different choices.
We can unlearn the habits.
We can find ways to soothe, and even heal, the wounds.
But we can’t do this alone. We can’t heal in a vacuum. We cannot withdraw from the world around us and cocoon ourselves until it’s all better.
Because liberation is a relationship.
Liberation is a relationship.
And relationships require communication. They require consent. They require sitting in and through the discomfort. They require cooperation. They require nurture and care and time.
Relationships are work.
Relationships are work.
Sadly, many of us don’t know how to do that work. And there are even some of us who are actively choosing not to do it. And that’s valid.
But if you want freedom, the true freedom of being liberated from the systems of oppression and conditioning that keeps us isolated and limited, you have to do the work. You have to learn how to be better at being in relationship.
And that’s the good news: these are skills that can be learned. They can be practiced. They can be improved.
But we can’t learn how to be in relationship on our own. We can’t practice alone. And we can’t improve our relationship skills from our cocoons of safety.
We need people. We need each other. We need communitieis of care. We need systems that nurture us. We need to practice patience and have others be patient with us.
So I invite you to join me for a 10-day group reading experience where we come together to dip our toes into the practice of analysing some of the foundations of our relationship conditioning.
Join me for Group Read Bites.
Click the button below to learn more about Group Read Bites and save your seat at the snack table.