05 Feb The path of righteous rage
An appropriate level of rage for the times
Nearly every day these days, I see something that makes me so seething with rage that I have had to find ways to process this emotion. It’s usually something to do with children, whether it’s in Gaza, in detention centres in the US or some detail to do with Epstein and his cronies. This morning it was just seeing a child’s legs, a little girl’s beautiful, innocent legs, not unlike those of my own 5 year old’s, in an Epstein file, that set it off. I feel like Kali, who kills the demons one by one and makes them into a belt. That form of anger management is sadly not available to me. Yet, this is an appropriate level of anger for anyone who seriously harms a child and anyone who justifies it. This is the anger I am owning right now and I hope that we are all reclaiming.
Raging women
As a woman in my 40s, I have been conditioned to suppress my rage. This has never worked very well for me, as it always explodes out of me eventually, followed by shame. The current world situation has cured me from these complex feelings surrounding this “inconvenient” and “inappropriate” emotion. Perhaps my anger was always appropriate and I was taught to suppress it because it was inconvenient for others. For many centuries, women have been taught to be people pleasers, our power of righteous rage taken away from us. I believe that our natural mama bear anger has been made to look like a failing, because it’s so powerful and that’s deemed dangerous to society. Now, we are realising has royally f-up are society really is though, I suggest we all need to access our rage and learn how to use it.
Anger management
After the past 4 or 5 years of immense anger at what corrupt, old men with too much power are doing the world over, I have found some ways to use this emotion for good. I’m sure we all realise that we don’t want to be talking to our children or partner when we are in an angry state. However, we do need to feel it, allow it to move through us and allow it to move us into action. I no longer look at any social media with my children nearby, I give myself the time and space I need to witness the unbearable things that we are being asked to witness. The important thing is not scroll onto the next thing. Don’t get overwhelmed, pick one thing that triggers you, rage, cry, then take the right action. One day, I’ll email my representative in parliament, another day I’ll sign a petition, I’ll donate when I can. Often, I write or share something I think is helpful. From time to time, I commit to finding a demonstration and physically be there (this feels really good). You can create art. You can pray if that’s your belief system. It really doesn’t matter what we do, as long as we are all doing something every day.
Signs of Hope
A couple of signs I have noticed in the past few days that rage can help to shift things:
We all saw the lovely 5-year old, Liam, being put in an ICE van. The anger was so overwhelming that they had to release him quickly. Now, what about all the other children in ICE detention centres?
We saw the beautiful little 6 year old Dania shaking from shock, covered in burns, as a result of more Israeli bombing during what they keep telling us is a “ceasefire”. I believe that it was our outrage that made them evacuate her immediately for medical treatment. Now, what about all the other children that need medical treatment in Gaza? Where are the medicines they promised?
They have released more of the Epstein files, but who is being held to account? Who is being prosecuted? they won’t do anything, they will keep protecting the perpetrators if we allow them too. It’s our job to keep the pressure up, and not just “move on” as the orange one suggests.
How to use rage
The rage I am talking about here is not the anger you feel when your child is disrespecting you. However, I believe these steps can help in all kind of anger related situations, they have helped me, so I wanted to share…
1, When the rage rises, don’t throw it away reacting outward, feel it inside yourself. Get away from your loved ones.
2. Breathe into it, open your heart to righteous rage. Don’t distract yourself away, do not scroll. Keep feeling it, feel the power of it.
3. Decide what step you will take right now to express your rage in the most useful way that you can in this moment in time. If you don’t have time to do much, do something small, and set a reminder for yourself to do something more later.
4. If the rage keeps coming back on this topic, keep using it, continue to take more steps towards a better world, and towards freedom.
I’m sorry that the recipe I have shared today is nothing to do with eating lovely food and a bit rambling. Yet, I believe that our emotions can also nourish us, when used in the correct way. Right action is nourishing. So, I hope you join me in feeling Kali rise within us. I hope we can allow her to move us, and the world, in the right direction.