Living “Blue” In Florida, While Also Living A Spiritual Life
Thank God, the most horrible legislative session Florida has seen in decades is FINALLY over!! There were days I was so angry, I thought I might literally punch a wall!! WHO THE HELL DO THESE PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE???
Breathe…remind yourself, you believe the Universe is powered by love.
The Universe always has a plan, and all things work together in ways we can’t always understand.
What gives them the right to FORCE EVERYONE ELSE to live by their beliefs??
And back and forth it continues in my mind. This dichotomy is my daily struggle and my daily strength.
Every day, I thank the Universe for so many things. I start from a place of love and gratitude and try to sustain it throughout the day. Since I usually wake up to a snuggly Chihuahua or tuxedo cat, it’s easy to start the day feeling loved.
That is until I reach for my phone to see what gawdawful thing Desantis and his ilk have done next. The knot in my stomach tightens, my blood pressure rises, and I want to scream, “What is the matter with you!?”
It is not easy to be a liberal Democrat in the red state of Florida. I was raised here. I remember when Florida was deep blue, and Miami was the place New Yorkers and Canadians came for Winter. It is a very different place now.
People ask me how Desantis got so much power and the simple answer is, he stole it. He refused to sign off on new, fairly drawn, BIPARTISAN electoral maps, insisting on his own instead and specifically demanding a majority Black voting district be dismantled, He aggressively gerrymandered our state, guaranteeing himself a second term and a super-majority to back it up. He repeatedly threatened legislators with “consequences” if they didn’t tow his deep red line and they caved, every single one cowered in fear of the party’s newest bully.
Since then, he’s welcomed Nazis and white supremacists who gleefully terrorize Jews, the LGBTQIA Community and other minorities across the state. In my area alone, bolstered by Tallahassee’s continuing blind-eye, they blocked roadways and used bullhorns to scream into the faces of people in passing cars. They’ve verbally assaulted families with children on the way to synagogues on Friday afternoons and littered our driveways with racist propaganda. Desantis says nothing because truly, it’s the Drag Queens who are the bigger threat.
Home to two of the worst mass shootings in history, you still need a license AND insurance to drive a car, but in Florida, you can walk into a store and pretty much walk out with a gun. Few (if any) questions were asked and, even fewer if you came in with someone the seller already knows. No license or training is needed. NADA. Want a gun? In Desantis’ Florida, just walk in and get one. Don’t forget to place your bet on when the next mass shooting will happen here, on your way out.
I am not anti-gun, but I am anti-stupidity. I have ZERO issues with Responsible Gun Ownership. I fully support a ban on assault weapons and consider the NRA a threat to us all. We did not always live in a country with mass shootings Every Single Day. We were not always able to be more heavily armed than the police officers charged with protecting us, and my children did not do “active shooter drills” in school because it never occurred to us that someone could walk in and murder them! It is harder and harder to remember our nation before the assault weapons ban expired when mass shootings were not the daily norm. Of course, Desantis promises to further loosen gun laws and increase abortion restrictions.
He erodes our rights again and again. Medical decisions are now subject to the providers’ personal beliefs. Making decisions for ourselves or our children, about which medications we can receive. which artists or arts organizations are acceptable, which books we’re allowed to read and whether we can learn the truth of our history, are all deeply restricted in his version of “freedom.” The truth is most Floridians DON’T support any of this. Most people across the nation don’t support any of this, yet it continues.
Hand-outs to corporate interests, landlords and insurance companies, policies that make it easier for farmers to pollute our waterways while at the same time restricting local government’s ability to make their own decisions about land development, traffic, and pollution. He gives power to the builders instead, even after the unprecedented flooding from hurricanes Ian and Nicole, due in large part to continued development in low-lying areas.
Desantis speaks endlessly about the will of the voters while ignoring it time and time again. Florida’s voters overwhelmingly support restoring the voting rights of felons. Instead, he instituted a poll tax and created an “election police force.”
Voters overwhelmingly said NO to new toll roads which would destroy important natural resources and wetlands, displace wildlife and add pollution and congestion to some of the most beautiful areas in our state.
On entering office, he announced the roads would go forward and, it’s taken multiple years and multiple lawsuits for the “will of the voters” to prevail.
Poll after poll shows the voters WANT to make their own medical decisions on abortion, and gender treatments, choose their own books AND want common sense gun laws. He doesn’t care. So much for the “will of the voters.’
I don’t know about you but, I’M FED UP!!
I’m fed up with the lies, the arrogance, the bullying and the racism. I’m fed up with the continued chants of freedom and parents’ rights while he takes away the very things that make us special, unique, independent and FREE! That’s when I remind myself to breathe. That’s when I remind myself to go for a walk. I step outside and stand under the beautiful canopy of trees that graces my front yard. I feel my feet in the grass and the breeze on my face. I look up through the leaves and thank God, Source, whatever you want to call it that, I am alive, I am healthy, and I am safe. My children and my parents, our friends, are also alive, healthy and safe.
It is frustrating and heart-wrenching to watch friends relocate in order to live their lives freely. It’s a daily challenge to stay in a place of love and spiritual abundance while watching the nation change around us and the struggle can leave me feeling like multiple personalities are vying for space.
The Universe is made from Love, and this is all part of the great transformation as we continue to evolve as humans…. Moments later, WHAT IN THE HELL ARE THEY DOING NOW???
Idaho is refusing to provide medical treatment options for victims of sexual assault. Missouri is refusing to fund public libraries, and Texas, Ohio and Florida have some of the strictest anti-abortion laws, leaving women no choice but to leave the state or carry unwanted pregnancies term. Worse, women with complications, not able to get the care they need, are sent away with Tylenol and prayers. How much more will we endure before we understand we’re all in this together?
It is easy to be angry, especially when that’s all we see on the news. Over and over, angry men tell us who is to blame and how they’re the ones to save us all by outlawing, restricting and legislating the enemy. Once upon a time, our nation was a Melting Pot and there was pride in our diversity. Now, if you’re different, or you disagree, you’re the enemy. Drag Queens, reading to children about loving and accepting themselves are deemed a bigger threat than the armed neo-Nazis blocking the road and screaming obscenities to those the same kids.
In my heart, I truly do believe that LOVE is the most powerful energy we have. I lean into the faith that, maybe not in my lifetime but, one day, we will figure out that love is stronger than hate, and that protecting our children from guns is more important than protecting them from drag queens.
So how do we do it? How do we stay in alignment, knowing we are that we are made of, and for, something more? How do we remember that everyone, from Drag Queens to Nazis comes from the same source of Divine Light? How do we keep love in our hearts for people who would wish us and others the ultimate harm?
Each time I ask this question, I’m reminded that we all came here to learn, to live and to evolve. To do that, there must be both positive and negative experiences. Without the challenges, we’d never appreciate the good things, we’d never need to grow, and life would be so boring.
We are all from the same source of divine light and love and, we ARE all connected. Many people are living in anger, and I refuse to join them. They’re so afraid of things that are different from themselves, and I feel sadness for the wonderful things they’re missing out on. There will always be conflict, and there will always be assholes, but it’s our choice whether we engage with love or more hate. We can choose to go forward with compassion. We can choose to set an example of love. Embracing the energy of joy and gratitude won’t change the world in an instant but it can expand to encompass those around us, helping to shift their vibration as well.
There will be more fracturing before we can all come together and I’m not suggesting some kind of Pollyanna, kumbaya love-in as our rights are being trampled. Far from it, I choose to stand with those who are being marginalized and othered. I will stand up, march, hold signs, wave flags, give money and whatever else I am able to do. But I also choose not to engage in hate or rage. My personal Facebook page may sometimes say differently while I do my utmost to stay in that place of love and compassion, even for those who wish me harm but, I will not sit quietly. Neither will I allow others to fill me with poison.
I’m always reminded of the child on a starfish-covered beach, picking each one up and putting it back in the ocean. A nearby adult asks why they would do this saying, “You can’t possibly make a difference.” The child replies, with a starfish in their hand, “I’m making a difference for this one.” It is not easy but, one person can indeed affect those around them and on it can go, whether that is with love or hate is up to us.
“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world.
In fact, it is the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret Mead
#loveislove #weareallother #bansoffourbodies #LGBTQIApride
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Shari Dworkin-Smith - Journeys To The Light 