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The Suffering of One is the Suffering of All.

The Suffering of One is the Suffering of All.

“She endured too much persecution herself ever to join in persecuting others. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton referring to Lucretia Mott)

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Our motto is more joy and less suffering. We've primarily applied it to being in a female body, but today, we are applying it more broadly. If one of us is suffering more because of our race or religion, we are all suffering. 

Most of us have been taught that we are separate beings, instead of nodes in a single, intertwined system. The reality is that each of us, our magnificent individuality, is derived from the same atoms and sustained by the same earth as all other beings.

This idea of separation creates fear and bias, and our fears in turn have created fearful, defensive, and closed institutions. But our radical inner peace and awareness will build peaceful and aware institutions. As we learn our history, listen to each other and step into deep empathy, our love increasingly compels us to act.

Be committed to doing no harm

It’s not okay to commit violence against another person (or against yourself) or to allow others to do so unchallenged. To express appreciation for the gift of our own lives, we must love other people’s lives, too. Non-harming is the only real principle that matters: do unto others as you would have done to you.

Cultivate a mature responsiveness

Change doesn’t magically happen. We need psycho-spiritual-emotional skills to do it right. If we have unresolved, frozen places in ourselves, it limits our freedom to respond to what is actually happening now. We react from old wounds; often from fearful, even self-righteous places.  When we heal our own past traumas, when we question and discard harmful belief systems, we can be of greater service in creating a more just world.

Harmonize your nervous system

With global, instantaneous media, all the disharmonious things from all over the world have become visible at once. We witness all the troubles, and it’s hard for our brains to tell what’s an immediate threat versus something 5,000 miles away. It can be too much for our nervous system to take in. We're not designed for that.

We can, however, practice steadiness, so that we can choose our responses (and not be reactive). 

Staying steady is aided by connecting with the timeless, every day. Let the air breathe you. Let yourself be awed by the trees and the ocean and the birds and the miracle of a planet that is always providing for us. Meditate, and find that still untouched place in your heart. Then, let your love be your fuel. Serve and speak from that place inside of you that knows how precious all life is.

Act

Let us be kind, be anti-racist, be present for peace and justice, be present for anyone who is oppressed.

Let’s do the work together:

Here are some black women in sexual health and wellness that we’ve worked with who you might want to get to know: 

Sonya Renee Taylor: Radical self-love and empowerment for all bodies

 

To the new world that we make together, the one that works for everyone.

treat yourself