IN A WORLD FILLED WITH HARM, HOW CAN WE EXIST IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP?
“Right relationship” is a term I learned from Dr. Rocio Rosales Meza. It involves returning to integrity and living in harmony with the earth, ourselves, our ancestors, and each other.
In my experience, the first step to right relationship is admitting that we all cause harm.
In 2020 I had an identity crisis. I was supposed to be a good person, a healer and someone who exuded wellness, but thanks to anti-racist educators on Instagram I came to learn that not only was I causing harm through my unconscious bias, I was also surrounded by insidious harm within the wellness world.
Once I accepted that I was part of the problem, I began to rewrite my definition of what it meant to heal and to be a good person in connection to accountability.
You see, attempting to be seen as “good” often keeps us from taking accountability. Many of us connect being “bad” with causing harm. If we cause harm we must be bad, but this isn’t reality.
As I said before, we all cause harm. We get upset, we lash out, we feel hurt and pass that hurt onto others. Not to mention the fact that we participate in systems and give money to companies that also cause harm. We are humans existing within an imperfect world.
So what if we begin to see accountability as what actually makes us good people? Admit we are human, admit we make mistakes, admit we cause harm and participate in harmful systems. And then: Take loving action to repair and do better. THAT is the kind of person I want to be and the kind of people I want to have in my life.
Once I chose the path of accountability, I turned to incredible teachers, leaders and humans - like Reverend Jacqui Lewis, Courtney Napier, Dr. Rocio Rosales Meza, Desiree Adaway, Myisha T. Hill, Resmaa Menakem, Andréa Ranae, Jennifer Regina Murphy, Jennifer “Goldie” James, and more - to learn, grow and heal. An ever-evolving process.
Six years and two kids later, I felt called to create this workshop.
A note before we go further: If you don’t need inspiration or tools to get started with this work then please go straight to the people I mention above and give them your time and money!
