Coming Back to Center

By Nadirah Adeye

Like so many, I have been watching the chaos that has been taking place in the last several weeks and months. Watching and feeling and expressing and seeking the best ways to take action in the midst of all that is going on. The call I have been getting is about the critical importance of coming back to center. Through it all. Meditating and coming to stillness, chanting and shifting the energies of rage and agitation through my being, even using exercise as a practice for coming into focus. And then, from that space of clarity, stillness and focus, I act. I allow myself to be guided by what is most truthful and honest for me and I take action to do my part to continue to co-create a world in which we can all thrive.

In recent weeks, that action has looked like making phone calls, coming into ritual and activist spaces with others, connecting with community and joining new ones. It has looked like leaning into places of discomfort, having unpleasant conversations, and learning new skills in community engagement. It has also looked like keeping myself informed about what is going on around me. Not giving in to despair (for so long that I become incapacitated), and listening to the people around me when they talk about the ways in which they will be impacted by what is taking place while also honestly sharing my own story.

We are all here learning to look out for one another. We are practicing how to have one another's backs and how to make mistakes, apologize and then keep at it because doing it imperfectly is still better than not doing it at all.

I love spiritual work and growth and I’ve deeply appreciated seeing all of the new connections that have been forged during the turmoil. This time keeps reminding me that our liberation is tied to the liberation of others. We do our work so that we may be of greater service to others, so that the momentum ripples out and creates shifts beyond us. So, my prayers, as we move through these days, are as follows: May we redouble our efforts to take care of ourselves so that we can be present to care for others. May we have compassion for ourselves so that we can better practice kindness to each other. And may we all band together in the journey to liberation.

Nadirah Adeye is the Faculty Relations Manager with The Shift Network and was the host of the African American Wisdom Summit. She is a mother, lover, magick making priestess and sensualist. She is also a rabble rouser and a wild (but not feral) woman.