I want to start by saying… I could hardly get anything done yesterday. I was so distracted by current events.
And I just want to normalize this. It’s not easy to know how to keep functioning with so much happening and we’re not always going to get it right.
What I did later in the day was accept defeat, stop trying to focus, stop checking the internet so much, and do some meditation, journaling about my feelings, and then I did ART for HOURS.
ART for HOURS is my big medicine right now.
And today I woke up feeling quite inspired and kind of “plugged in” and ready to focus, which is really nice.
One thing I did do yesterday was post a video on social media ranting about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
It was on my mind and I just wanted to share and didn’t realize it would resonate so much with people.
For a while I wanted to write a long, detailed post about how the Hierarchy of Needs was culturally appropriated from a Blackfoot community and because Maslow was looking it through the lens of colonial culture instead of understanding it through Blackfoot culture, he didn’t understand it. The needs should NOT be in a hierarchy at all and the self actualization needs should be at the centre of our lives.
I have not shared this because there are so many people already doing this work. Do an internet search for Maslow Blackfoot and you’ll find tons of interesting reading!
The first article I ever read about this was this one, which contained inaccuracies which have been corrected and which has been updated to focus on: Could the Blackfoot Wisdom that Inspired Maslow Guide Us Now? which is so good!
There is also Blackfoot Philosophies vs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Even Psychology Today is writing about what Maslow got wrong
This article is about how the cultural appropriation isn’t really what matters and it’s more interesting to look at what was happening in the Blackfoot community.
The reason why I am interested, of course, is that creative dreaming IS self actualization.
And WE DO NOT need to fully take care of every other need we have as humans before we can get to dreaming.
And the truth is - when we do put self actualization and dreaming at the centre of our lives - meeting all of our other needs becomes easier.
In my many years of doing this work, it’s become more and more apparent that the culture we live in, this colonialist/extractive capitalist dominant culture is the biggest hurdle to achieving our dreams aka self actualization.
AND the thing is… artists create and impact culture.
We can change this.
On a group call recently I talked about what I learned from Dra. Rosales Meza when I did a program with her last fall. The short version is “Don’t confuse the fall of the colonial empire with the end of the world”
It’s important to keep DREAMING in these times because this is what moves us forward. This is what CREATES a better future.
And, always, when I talk about DREAMING I am not talking about DOING. Or PRESSURING.
I am talking about sitting with yourself, processing your thoughts and feelings, understanding and tending to your needs, listening to your dreams. Your dreams are a part of you, you can’t be fully present with yourself without being fully present with your dreams.
It’s HARD to stay present right now.
So we keep PRACTICING.
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If you are in the membership and have questions about how to keep practicing right now - email me! Let’s talk about it! And we DO talk about it on our calls - the next Co-Dreaming/Co-Working call is this Friday.
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