In my email to you a week ago–Not Enlightened–I bordered on arrogance.

I presented the line “We are definitely the woke ones,” as a joke. Some saw it and others didn’t.  It doesn’t matter–in every joke is a morsel of truth.

The point I was attempting to make is that when I get fired up about something it’s like waking up.  My body comes alive.  That feeling of enlivenment, even if it’s through the overwhelming discomfort of deep sadness or righteous anger, pulses with longing.  Like high-voltage electricity such charged energy seeks a path into motion.  

To be witness is to hold the energy of what is seen without rushing to judgement or action.  Yes, there is danger in witnessing something terrible without calling for what is right, but there is also at least as deep a danger to rushing in.  The clarity that comes from a shot of adrenaline may well be an illusion.  All is not as it appears. 

What I did not make clear in my last email is the message to listen to what your body tells you and then to wait.  Do not take the first impulse as the only message.  Notice the process of desiring to act.  I say this because it is difficult.  I screw it up all the time.  For example, I sent that last email before I’d sat with it much. That was my arrogance.

Fascinatingly, Not Enlightened had the highest open rate of any email I’ve ever sent, garnered many appreciations, a few challenges, and a number of unsubscribes.  Thanks to all of you who responded—I wish you could read each other’s comments.

I am triggered by arrogance, and I am it.  I forgive it in myself today.  Who else may be forgiven?