the force that is destitute

In psychology it is called the shadow, a repressed unacknowledged force from within. In popular superstition it is called evil, a kind of corrupt selfish action. I think of it as a kind of destitute force. An energy that at its core is “without” a basic respect for growth. An unbeknownst to us it is sometimes hidden in our actions.

We often choose to ignore and gloss over these energies for the sake of a forced harmony or a status quo. A decision that may allows us to proceed living in spite the horrors and maladies of the world. However, consider how your self-editing and filtering of the awareness of these troublesome forces, actually gives license to them.

We can start by recognizing them: The Energies that seemingly conspire to get in the way of clarity; The Energies that instead of fostering growth and unraveling, encourage confusion and entrapment; The Energies that resist the open scaling of a system and instead attempt to stunt and disconnect it;

At their worst these (Shadow, Evil, Destitute) energies serve and act as a regressive force. They can destabilize, disorganize, depress, fragment, and disconnect, often fomenting the madness we experience as individuals and as a society. Many an evil act has been committed and enabled because of the unchecked presence of this energy in our world and in ourselves. At its most extreme these destitute actions act cumulatively to warp our world and disconnect us from our own becoming.

The only value in this destitute force lies precisely in the struggle with it, since that conflict can help us reorganize, wake up, and gain awareness of how to better align with the energy of life. In that struggle and conflict we can work to find that withholding energy, banish it with our actions, and not allow it to take seed in our lives.

So ask yourself how do you still hold space for the destitute energies? Why do you choose to repress and ignore their existence within you and around you? How do you rationalize and lean into selfish actions out of convenience, fear, or habit? How do you condone and enable others being robbed of their chance for growth? What stops you from actions that are nurturing and supportive of all sentient beings?

Do you want to change this around?

Lean into this basic respect for growth, and encourage the unfolding of all.