The Scream by Kent Monkman, from the Shame and Prejudice exhibit.

 

My heart is broken over the remains of 215 children found in a mass grave at a residential school in British Columbia.

Children who were taken from their families, and never came home.

Children who would only be a little older than me, if they had lived.

Children whose parents, siblings, relatives and neighbours could still be alive today.

And the knowing that most, if not all, of the residential schools in Canada also have these mass graves, besides the official cemeteries.

This isn't our past. It's the ground we're standing on.

Residential schools and all of the harm they caused were a deliberate component of the colonization of Canada and other countries.

It's part of how the colonizers created an environment where they could break the treaties and take whatever they wanted.

It's why my country is the way it is. It's why I've had such a nice life here in Canada.

We can never make a thing better without being able to really SEE it.

This is so much of the work I have done with my clients and students. CLARITY.

You have a dream, but the path that gets you there is all foggy.

And the process of being clear about how to create what you want in your life ends up being A LOT about looking in the dark shadowy places that you'd rather avoid.

I had to learn to stay present with my fears and inner critics before I could live with my dreams.

It's a package deal.

Clarity means CLARITY. Seeing all of it, not just the parts you want to see.

And that's also how we make the world better.

It's in learning to stay present with the pain and injustice of the world that we can begin to see a better way.

That's when you are your most powerful, when you can BE WITH both.

So that's my tip for the day.

Don't be a part of the "sending love and light and good vibes" spiritual bypass crew.

Let your heart break.

Be with the pain in the world.

That's the place where we'll heal, grow, and create a new world from - together.