Many of us that identify as lightworkers often feel as though they are tasked with a very important mission in life. This mission, sometimes still not understood or realized fully, is at the core of their being and perhaps even led them to the discovery that they are lightworkers themselves. The term lightworker, usually refers to someone that’s of high vibration, uplifting, and has a desire to spread this sense of well being around the globe. What happens though when a lightworker’s mission in life contradicts with this practice of spreading light, and literally does the opposite? What if in the process of activism, a lightworker brings “to light” acts of humans which are disturbing to others, in effect, lowering their vibration? Can a lightworker successfully fulfill their destiny and at the same time make others feel a sense of love and worthiness? I often struggle with these questions myself and present them to you for your feedback and point of view. Perhaps we can both learn a thing or two and help each other out at the same time.
I always grew up wanting to help others. I can remember at the age of five telling my mom I wanted to be a waiter in a restaurant because they got to “serve” people. I totally believe this was me as a young lightworker realizing I wanted to live a life of service and to make the world a better place. Lightworkers aren’t a new thing, you can look through history and find them… those figures wanting to make a difference and challenging the status quo. Sometimes they make indelible marks in our collective consciousness and we find their names in school books and documentaries, while others are no further than our next door neighbor or family member, the one that always helps out or simply brightens the room with a smile. Not to pat myself of the back, but I truly love to make and see people feel happy, especially with laughter through my sometimes unusual sense of humor (yeah, I get myself into trouble often with jokes no one seems to get or even finds offensive.) I also love sticking up for the underdog, quick to offer assistance to someone I feel is being taken advantage of, or being wronged somehow.
When I was in the fourth grade, my life in activism began as I stood up for a group of classmates that received sour popsicles during lunch time. You had to pay an extra .15 cents for this geometric wonder of frozen orange juice, and I didn’t think it was right that none of us could eat them because they tasted so horrible. After over an hour of going from one school employee to another, and my teacher thinking the experience was way cool, I negotiated free popsicles the following day for my everyone at my lunch table. An activist, or even an injury attorney was born! Lucky for me I stuck with computers, but my roots in sticking up for others were firmly in place.
Fast forward 37 years later (shit I’m old) and I’m still trying to do my best to help the planet, but I noticed recently this came at a cost. As many of you may know, I’m pretty new to Facebook, and the ability to share information truly amazes me, even as an information technology professional. It can be an amazing tool, and hey if social media can sway an election, it can obviously sway minds in a positive direction, such as one of my passions, educating others and protecting wildlife. As a docent at a local zoo, I was able to effect change through one-on-one personal interactions with visitors for almost 18 years. Only now I can help my furry companions by spreading information on my time line! Oh Joy! It didn’t occur to me though that some of the content I would be sharing would be considered offensive or disturbing to others. I had even been asked to curtail my posts, alter them to accommodate the reader’s preference. After explaining this would lesson the effect, and that you could hide posts from your timeline that you don’t like, as I often do, I wondered if this was an isolated incident, or if others felt the same. Turns out they did, although it had nothing to do about animals… it was politics. Damn.
This month on the cover of O Magazine, Opera Winfrey touts about shining your light, clearly a call to all lightworkers to get involved and do something! Oprah Winfrey by the way is the Fairy Queen of all lightworkers, she comes to your dreams at night when you turn 18 and ordains you. Okay, that’s so not true, it’s 21, but the point is that much of what Oprah is famous for is making others feel empowered and making them feel good, the goal of most lightworkers in some capacity or another (I would like to think.) However, I had made someone feel bad by trying to spread my light and make others aware of how their money can end up supporting big game hunting. And making someone feel bad is not something I ever like doing, nor is it a nice thing to do knowingly, which I didn’t. Yet the activist in me refused to back down and I didn’t change my posts. I figured the good I was doing was too important and outweighed any bad that might come as a result. You know, the greater good! Does this make sense to anyone?
If you think you have this figured out, this ends up taking even a more complex twist. Several weeks ago I went to see Abraham Hicks speak in Orlando Florida and I actually got the opportunity to sit in the hot seat and speak to these amazing group of entities. We’re all besties now. If you follow Abraham Hicks and their teachings long enough, you’ll realize a bit of a recurring theme… that of physical, but not energetic pacifism. In many of Abraham’s teachings, they speak of not needing to feel as though you need to save the world (which isn’t broken according to them,) or to get the President impeached, because all you need to do is adjust your energy accordingly and reality will adjust to your vibration. In other words, just be a lightworker, spread your light and think positive. Don’t piss anyone off and your vibrational attraction will, in turn, effect change. No offensive imagery needed, just let your vibrational output do all the work. Seriously? You mean I don’t need to raise awareness? I am the awareness? Woah!!!!
So now maybe you can see what I’m dealing with here. I want to make people happy, I want to change the world, I don’t want to piss people off, but I don’t want to see baby harp seals clubbed to death. And I really want no-kill shelters and I want a mini-pig… well a pig that someone thought was mini but realized there wasn’t really such a thing and it grew too big and now it needs a home. That’s what I want to do! Commas omitted intentionally. I don’t know if I’m prepared to just say Rosa Parks could have just thought of sitting in the front seat and the same reactions through time and space would have occurred. I think for that to happen much more people need to know about the Law of Attraction.
Well that’s my issue. So I ask all of you… is it possible to be a lightworker and an activist? Don’t all lightworkers want to be activists? If you’re a lightworker please comment below and let me know what your feelings are about this. Perhaps there’s some middle ground or maybe it’s just an all or nothing approach. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and not piss off or hurt anyone in the process. Is that even possible?
Thanks for reading, you all rock. I’m speaking to the lightworkers here, everyone else sucks. Just kidding!!! 🙂
Thank you for taking on the hard questions! I wish I had solid answers, but I am a work in progress. My current theory is that whatever activism we are called to is needed and blessed by Source, but we have to stay in that high awareness of Source and Love while we march or write letters or make a positive pitch for greater involvement. I’m not saying we never get angry about racism, climate change, Syria, animal abuse or (your cause here). That’s nuts. We own those feelings, and we see them as a place to let bring in more love. How can we turn them into positively vibrating action? We ask Source for help when that feels impossible. And we can’t force others to our point of view. People feel so manipulated and played by media, whether ads, social, news, or entertainment, that they often shut down at one more block of words that seems meant to trigger fear, outrage, guilt or grief. But I also can’t square doing nothing on the level of physical activism with my conscience either. I have the privilege of turning away from things others have to live through as a white middle-class American. I remember when I was pondering joining a march in support of removing a statue of a confederate soldier, I was wondering if I could do it with an attitude of bearing witness and not rage. Another lightworker suggested I participate from my meditation cushion. My question is, how do those that that statue was intended to intimidate know I stand beside them if they don’t see me, if I’m not walking physically next to them? I think, for me, there have to be some physical gestures.
Mike, you rock! I think part of being a lightworker is too try to affect change, be it trying to save the environment, or the animals that can’t speak of defend themselves. We have to stand up and defend what we know in our hearts is the right thing and as long as our intention is good and pure in the light, then if people get offended, well it’s on them. Remember, it’s all about intention, right? We have to stand up for what we belief in or we arent being true to ourselves and the light within us. You give me the desire to want to go out and help, especially the animals! So keep doing what your doing because your an amazing lightworker and you can affect positive change! Also, I really want a mini pig and a goat, haha!!