https://letsreimagine.org/76768/alive-for-now-weekly-series
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions 💖🙏🙂
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions 💖🙏🙂
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I recently attended a workshop on creating more inclusive spaces in offering events. The facilitator recommended that we write out our biases about various races on a piece of paper, the first second after receiving this idea I thought ‘I can’t do that’ ‘Is that allowed?’ ‘What if somebody finds it?!’ He suggested that by doing so we get in touch with the unconscious biases we are bringing to the table in our interactions. The next moment, I realized I’ve been suppressing those biases, yet I was just about to facilitate a workshop on the value of not suppressing death. The reason I do the work I do with ‘Alive for Now’ is that it seems to be common to believe avoiding death is a good thing, yet if we’re not in touch with the reality of it, I’ve discovered that it may have a negative hold on us in ways that aren’t apparent until it’s too late. I was brought back to the notion that it’s ultimately not serving to suppress anything, that when we do we’ll then act out of the unconscious / shadow. Coming from that place of fear might show up in all kinds of sneaky ways we’re unaware of. And then, related to that, something unexpected happened...
As participants, many of us related how our unserving social conditioning is revealed in regards to end-of-life matters to our approaches (or lack thereof) in addressing racial inequality It’s not easy to sum this up… my article on The Death of Femininity covers what I mean re: how our unserving social conditioning may cause unnecessary suffering to ourselves and others when going through grief or illness or dying. (And interesting how it relates to issues of gender inequality as well now that I think about it). I include in that article... ‘We tend to place an immense amount of importance on having an answer doing something to fix a problem being in control making sense of everything These are mainly masculine qualities. They are important qualities, and certainly have their place. A balance of those with feminine virtues is what I find to be dangerously lacking…’ I include in the article unintentional hurtful things we may do out of this wacko conditioning that we often presume to be normal. I’m still working with the question… Could this relate to the equally taboo subject of racial inequality? In that we could benefit from approaching these interactions by leaning into more… Mystery Paradox Listening Surrender ?  https://youtu.be/3yHDwvRPX6c
A quick overview re: what Ethan has been through… Oct. 2019 On a flight Hawaii > NY, had a stroke, diagnosed with a plum sized Stage 4 Glioblastoma Brain Tumor, immediate surgery, radiation, chemo Recently had an apartment fire, losing all of his possessions Currently in the hospital in Charlotte, NC with a major head infection, requiring more surgery There are many more details, that simply sums it up the best I can^ I interviewed him on Zoom. We discuss what might be the meaning of illness, how he stays present, the guilt and shame that can arise with these challenges, how he feels about death and healing, intuition, how we might support him, etc. Ethan’s go fund me page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/healingethan?fbclid=IwAR2GzI5VyLYszGpmbHSdleAqbXyK1Jp0TV3fSueFyUQ4HwdxgEMjImDN3NE |
Author
Jessica Murby is a Hospice Liaison, Occupational Therapist, lover of life, and acro yogi. She unexpectedly came upon the benefits of using death as teacher through her clinical experience and through navigating illness herself. She is part of a lifelong research study at the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.). Jessica currently splits her time between her roots in New England and the beautiful island of Maui. She shares her unique work most anywhere she’s invited to through public speaking, writing, and workshops. Archives
October 2020
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