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Natural Awakenings Atlanta

Letter from the Publisher: Vote Love

Oct 01, 2020 09:30AM ● By Paul Chen
I knew I had to write an endorsement this month despite the fact that Natural Awakenings typically steers away from politics. I am under no illusion that my small but earnest publication holds any sway among the Atlanta electorate, but I do believe that silence is complicity, that every voice matters and that the “hundredth monkey” is out there.

A few weeks ago, I imagined this space enumerating a long list of indictments against the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the party he represents. But I felt uneasy with that idea, and, just last week, I realized why: The Law of Attraction.

This fundamental law states that like attracts like. Yet we often find that, as much as we dislike somebody, something, or some situation, we get more of it, not less. The reason is that our minds are more focused on the negative—what we don’t want—versus the positive—what we do want. And negative minds attract more negative realities.

Accordingly, my “endorsement” is to ask you to vote for what you want, not what you don’t want. In other words, the state of mind you bring to the polling booth should be one of love, not fear; of hope, not despair.

Whether you vote in person or by mail, I urge you to take whatever time you need to generate positive feelings and not commit the act of voting with a negative mind.

While I know this might be difficult to do, remember the truism articulated by philosopher and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Dr. Wayne Dyer’s elaboration on this pronouncement is further instructive:

The non-spiritual being hates evil and is determined to eradicate that which he believes to be evil. The spiritual being knows that everything that he hates and fights weakens him, and that all that he is for empowers him. The non-spiritual being knows what he hates, and much of his energy, both mental and physical, is devoted to fighting what he perceives to be bad or evil. Spiritual beings do not order their lives to be against anything. They work for what they are for rather than fighting what they’re against.

(I have to say I do have a niggle with Dyer’s use of the term “non-spiritual being.” I believe we are all spiritual beings; it’s just that some of us do not realize it and live accordingly.)

So, with a month to go before election day, I encourage you to start now. Generate positive feelings throughout the month so that, by the time November 3rd rolls around, perhaps we can collectively generate a tidal wave of positivity that drives more positive people to the polls. Remember: Like attracts like. If you spend October criticizing, decrying, screaming, abhorring and hating, what type of voters do you think are going to show up in waves?

One last thought for those of you who believe that you are once again saddled with a choice of the lesser of two evils and that you have to hold your nose while pulling the levers of electoral justice: Paraphrasing the advice of Abraham, when you find yourself unable to generate positive feelings for a specific thing, think in more general terms.

Finally, I also urge everyone to contemplate and meditate on the idea of a society that is based much more upon the Divine Feminine than ours is now. In an interview with Bustle Digital Group, Suzanne Kingsbury said, “Consciousness is basically divided up into the masculine side and the feminine side, and we need both to achieve our highest creative potential.” She points out aspects of the Divine Feminine that I encourage you to repeat, like a mantra, to attract what many of us ultimately want on November 3rd—empathy, compassion, creativity, community and collaboration. Please repeat them throughout the morning, afternoon and evening. Then, let’s reap what we sow.
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