I live in a liberal community, therefore many of my friends are liberals. Many of my email friends are liberal.
I've never had any problems before this election... I go back and forth in my liberal community and have good relations with everyone.
I've lost my hair stylist. I almost lost my chiropractor. I now have a few friends I can no longer discuss politics with.
Talk about dividing America!!
A friend tells me she can't even talk with one daughter. Politics is no longer discussed in her house.
She said that it was bad when Kerry was running. People were good natured when they disagreed. She says that now people are angry. They can't discuss Obama or McCain without getting angry.
Are you seeing this too??
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IT'S ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Posted By: guideforselfhealing
There is a real phenomenon here, that I'd like to flesh out a bit.
Sometimes, when people stop being your friend over ideological issues it's because they actually WERE affected by what you said - a part of them resonated but the inner conflict was too much, they couldn't take the charge. "You want the truth? You can't HANDLE the truth!" And really we can't handle the whole truth, which is why we take it in the individualized dose that we can handle.
When people clash over politics, or other issues, it's only because they're wanting and expecting agreement in the first place. This is the way of "homo normalis," as Wilhem Reich calls people who are "successfully armored." To be homo normalis isn't natural, isn't healthy, but it's the "norm."
The reason we're seeing more of this lately is because this state of consciousness that is based in fear has to come to a head. We are in a period of time of learning through experience. We're NOT getting the agreement from others that we want anymore. We don't have the luxury of the feeling of solidarity with a group anymore. That's for an older consciousness. If we want to step into the new consciousness, we have to let go of those attachments.
I have no one in my immediate personal life who shares my worldview. No one. And that's a great blessing, because I get to learn that truth doesn't need a majority, and I don't really need to be a member of a group that shares my views, although it would feel more comfortable. But it wouldn't be honest. Truth is truth even if only ONE person knows it and everyone else is against it.
This is the lesson we're coming up to. We don't have the luxury of agreement anymore. That's too easy, that's the path of least resistance. We're going to lose friends, and that's going to be part of a great lesson.
Reich also talked about the "emotional plague reaction" and we are seeing this now. That's where people who are so attached to a belief system feel threatened if anyone challenges it, so they have to attack the other person in some way, or withdraw contact. People do not want to be around people who challenge their held beliefs, especially when those held beliefs are connected to very fundamental assumptions about how the world works and their role in it. Most people couldn't wrap their brain around the idea that not voting is an option, for example.
And if something about it actually hits a nerve, that's even worse! Because then they can't dismiss it completely, yet they can't embrace it either. That is a painful state to be in.
If we find ourselves feeling that kind of conflict with someone else, we can recognize it for what it is, and look to see what buttons in us were getting pushed. In any case, we can always use the incident as an opportunity to grow in consciousness. That's what this is all about.
Not that "bad" things are happening and we have to make things comfortable again. We don't gain consciousness that way. The way we grow is to use every situation to notice our own reactions, our own knee-jerk reactions, where are we still holding on to attachments that keep us in inner turmoil. It's all about inner consciousness, not getting the outer world to be more comfortable. Becuase we need to develop our inner selves to be whole within - then the outer world will reflect that.
But the inner work is a journey through the labyrinth, and there's a lot of danger there. We go it individually, and some of us have to tread this lonely path where friends leave. If we can see the larger picture, it helps give courage.
Then as we progress, there can be a state of grace where we don't need agreement from anyone else. We can be friends with everyone, because it doesn't matter what we talk about, we can connect with anyone from basic human warmth. We don't need anything from anyone, and yet we have everything, when we're free.