Radical Acceptance

It’s time for some radical acceptance.

It’s time for some radical acceptance.

Why? Because you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. And this country has had its head in the sand for a long time about who we are: we are mis-educating our children; we are steeped in pain avoidance and unconsciousness; we are warmongers; we exalt violence and cynicism and commercialism… I could go on and on.

What are the products of living this way? Despair, addiction, anger, ignorance. I see this election’s outcome as an enormous mirror, showing us who we have become. And it’s the acceptance of THAT vision that will be the start of deeper, more fundamental change.

I think we’re in for some real suffering. But that’s the nature of human growth, right? Human beings rarely change without pain. We go along for years on autopilot, ignoring early signs of illness. Well, now we can’t.

I teach improv for this very reason: to get good at accepting, all of it, even the stuff I didn’t choose or don’t understand. Because the scene can’t move forward until you say yes to it.

So, every day, but particularly today… yeah, radical acceptance is in order. Acceptance of what is, not what you wish it were. Acceptance of our broken system and broken selves is — and must be — step one in a long, necessary process of change: acknowledge what’s broken, heal what’s hurting, and transform what is into what you dream it can be.