Connecticut Shootings

There is no fitting response to the mass shootings of 28 people last Friday, 20 of them ages six and seven. If you all are like me, after the immediate sorrow and shock, there's an impulse to try to make sense of the senseless so we can prevent reoccurrences in the future. Gun control is the recent hot topic of debate, and it's most curious to me that "restriction" is the go to emotion. It seems audacious to think that killing can be prevented simply by taking away weapons. For me, everything goes back to the Inner Constellation--violence within, becomes violence without.

I firmly believe prevention of violence toward another demands the exact opposite of "restriction"--expansion. Expansion of our abilities to identify the marginalized among us and those who are at risk of striking out. Every time a mass murderer is described, I've noticed a personality theme: isolated, kept to themselves and didn't interact with others. When we notice such a troubled soul, it's an automatic response to pull away or retract. The only exception I've seen to this is the response of children, who seem to respond with curiosity and wanting to know more. What if we took it upon ourselves to reach out to individuals who isolate themselves?

The next argument to reaching out might be, what if I'm not equipped to deal with the troubled person? Today, news channels are reporting this is most certainly the case, therefore more money is needed for mental health services. Ironically, most people who receive mental health services report that family and friends provide more support than professional counselors. The genuine love and care of a community of people is incredibly powerful. Don't doubt for a minute the human potential to alleviate the pain of another--we have a heart and an impetus for life--these are our tools for reaching out rather than pulling away. Now to the all important question--what if someone is a whack job, how can I possibly make a difference? A person who guns down innocent children is most certainly a whack job! However, this is where the IC Truths come in:

1) Everything is Energy - the good, the bad, and the ugly
2) Energy never dies it just changes form - the good the bad and the ugly are all powerful agents of influence
3) Everything, no matter how challenging, can be transformed - the good, the bad, and the ugly can  always be transformed

We have great ability to alleviate suffering, and ultimately another person's suffering becomes our suffering, as is evident in the tragedy of the Connecticut shootings. We have a human responsibility to alleviate the suffering of others around us. Dawn Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach understood this as they charged toward the sound of gunfire erupting inside the classroom, as did Victoria Soto and other women who heroically shielded their children from gunfire. For me, alleviating suffering is the lesson of the Connecticut shootings and the key to preventing more tragic expressions of "insanity." May all people affected in any way by the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School be comforted and supported by their community during this time of loss.


For a beautifully written article and video footage honoring the victims of the Connecticut shootings, please click here.


 

Preciousness of Life

Life is precious. Experiencing the loss of Life drives this truth home and presents our mortality in a way that can't be escaped. One of my dad's favorite verses says, "Why, you don't know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are but a vapor, that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." 

Precious Life (consciously capitalized, for it is holy), demands immediacy, requires active participation in this moment, right NOW, for tomorrow is never promised. NOW because this moment is pure creation--this thought, this action, this feeling. How am I expressing my precious Life? Am I adding to or taking away from other precious Lives? I feel a poem coming on, when sentences fail, I go to imagery....

All Hail!
©Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

Holy Ones, who understand the pull of this life,
stand on the shore, hailing the waves in the sea,
trying so desperately to get our attention,
but we see only our own momentum—

how the tide recedes.

Wake up
to precious Life!

Shout and join the supplication
before rising from fallen knees.
What is your imprint,
on those walking by,
before it’s washed out to sea?

Here's the IC challenge--Precious, Precious Life, smile to at least one person today. Notice their imprint and bring encouragement. Tell me about it, I want to hear how you are spreading the love and joining the Holy Ones. 

A Daughter Gives Thanks

I lost my father yesterday, November 21, 2012. As I write this, I’m sitting on a plane, flying from West to East to comfort and be comforted by family. I had plans this week, to write a blog article on one of my favorite “Chart Your Course,” practices that always manages to get me moving in the right direction—practicing gratitude. “In any and all situations, give thanks” is my motto. I had imagined such an article timed to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Yesterday  was one of my greatest gratitude tests. As I lay in bed last night, I could not stop crying, tears flowed, non-stop. The closest words to describe the feelings were, “heart-break.” Interestingly, this description was signed to me by a Deaf client only a few days prior as tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. He had received a similar blow, having heard of a friend’s passing. Yes, the evening of November 21, my heart physically hurt. I apologized to my husband as it approached 1:00am and still I wept, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” he said, gathering my wet self in his arms. Then he asked, “What are you thinking about?”

My answers were telling: a sense of heavy regret, that perhaps my pop is struggling somehow, and lastly, that I love him. My husband paused then and ever so gently asked, “Not baseball, or bowling?” My mirror, my Love, steered me back to one of my North Stars: be grateful. Within minutes the tears stopped, and I was sound asleep, lulled by what a sucker my pop was for animals and little kids, as evidenced the day we were shooting hoops, and I convinced him to buy me a parakeet if I made some crazy back-bend basket move that I had never before made in my life—until that day. When we arrived home with the bird, he took the heat for me, explaining to my mother that he had promised--and a promise made, is a promise kept. I called the parakeet, “Pretty Boy."

Whenever my heart begins aching on this Thanksgiving Day, I do my very best to think of the blessings of my father’s life. May your Thanksgiving be filled with promises kept and gratitude for family, friends and loved ones.

To Love We Must Swerve Often From Our Path

My Luvee riding in fall sunshine

Perhaps it's the season of fall and brilliant colors, but I've noticed of late that Life (intentionally capitalized) constantly interacts with me. When I pay attention and actively participate, miracles happen. Enough foo-foo-woo-woo, let me give you a few examples.

You all might remember the Veteran's Day event I had scheduled last Sunday at my office. I wracked my brain on how to increase my exposure to vets and decided to hold an open house. People in the field warned me that veterans don't tend to go to such events, but I felt compelled to do it. A few days before my event, a veteran called from the local hospital. This person was incapacitated and unable to make it on Sunday, but was wondering if I could come to the hospital for a visit. I smiled, having the distinct feeling that Life was placing a great opportunity in my path, requiring a slight detour from "my plan"--no problem, I set up an appointment immediately following my open house. The following evening, I received an email from a father of a vet who committed suicide after coming home from Afghanistan. He commended my efforts and said, if one vet is served, it'll be worth it. He then proceeded to share that he was in the military over twenty years and in addition he had built the building that housed my office. In a small town of 23,000 is this just interesting coincidence? I don't think so--Life is interacting, not just with me but with this devoted father.

Well, Sunday rolled around and unfortunately (or not:), no one attended my open house. However, I left the office and headed to the hospital. Here I found a willing veteran who applied the Meridian Treatment with great success, bringing the distress experienced from a SUD (Subjective Units of Distress) 6 to a 0 in less than five minutes. When I arrived home that night, I looked up into the star-filled sky and heard again the words of the man who had lost his son to suicide--if one vet is served, it'll be worth it. I breathed deep the crisp fall air and committed to take off my blinders and stray more often from my determined path. 

Veterans Day Event

Please spread the word to any veterans you know that this Sunday, November 11, 2012 from 4:00-5:30 pm there will be the following event at The Studio Lake Tahoe to honor our service men and women:

Monster Storm Sandy

Watching the news and touching base with family on the East coast over the last few days, I'm reminded of the innate difficulty in watching the suffering of others and the natural human impulse to help. I recalled a poem I wrote the night before the huge earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. I woke the following morning after writing this poem with the lines echoing in my mind, gently challenging the surreal scenes unfolding across the TV screen:

Reality - state of things as they are or appear to be,
rather than how one might wish them to be
©Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com
March 10, 2011

Creation--pervasive,
omnipresent
and boundless.

Encompassing everything—
everything?
Creation interacts, there is no exception.

Nothing is exempt:
birthing, strengthening, celebrating,
decomposing, taking away, mourning.

Even sickness, catastrophe, tragedy….
honestly?
How might I respond if I lived Creator’s* reality?

*I have always felt that names such as God, etc, attempt to contain what is uncontainable. "Creator" is the closest I've come to finding an awkward fit.

Recovery After Paralysis--120%!

My job as a translator often gives me the opportunity to meet incredible people--one such person is speaker and author, Grant Korgan. My first introduction to him was comical. I sat on stage, off to the side, in a spotlight so the Deaf folks present could view my interpretation with ease. On the front half of the stage sat a lone stool, and within minutes of starting a kindly gentleman came over to me and explained that this section of the stage was about to be lowered below ground level. "Don't fall in," he playfully warned. Little did he know, I was about to do just that.

From my bird's eye view, I was able to see everything happening down in "the hole." A man strode out, using canes on either side of him. He deliberately sat down on the stool and arranged his suit and microphone.  Then, as if on cue, he looks up at me, sitting there curiously watching him. He beams an adoring smile, crosses his arms over his chest and mouths, "I love you," unabashedly! I, of course, grin back and throw him a kiss off my fingertips, but I must be honest, I'm thinking, "who is this guy?" He returns a few more air-kisses and then prepares himself to launch. The man's introduction proceeds as my hands lift and begin conveying the dialogue.

Grant Korgan was indeed launched that night--into the hearts and minds of all who had the great honor to hear him speak. Grant shared his story and spoke poignantly of a snowmobiling accident that resulted in an L1 burst fracture in his back. He had no feeling from his waist down and knew he was facing the most challenging journey of his young life thus far. Amazingly he knew, "there was no way, no way at all, I was gonna live in fear." Grant developed what he called, 3 Points of Possibility, the keys to meeting adversity head-on and overcoming it joyfully:

1. Decide What You Want in life (Sounds like the Inner Constellation "North Star" concept, huh?)
2. Focus on What IS Working
3. at all points, Choose Positivity Through Adversity

Grant introduced his team, the people who support him on his journey, and the monumental partner in his success--his wife, Shawna. All of them radiated a quality that helped me answer my initial question, "who is this guy?" Grant Korgan, his wife and his team are expressions of the Eternal, the celebration of this blog and everything Inner Constellation represents--they are all sparks of the Divine. As I study Grant's website, I see a little line written at the bottom of a webpage, an expression many of us desperately need to hear and take to heart:

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Mad Luv. --Korg

In my heart's work with survivors of trauma, I'm continually faced with the balance of acknowledging tragic events but ultimately finding ways to transform the challenge (Inner Constellation Truth #3). Unwavering gratitude is key; recognizing the gifts is a life practice. At the end of Grant's talk, he reminded the crowd of something dear to my heart--"we are all survivors." Thank you, Grant Korgan and team for a most excellent tribute to what is  lasting and true, and unbreakable.