Soul of Nonviolence - What are you going to do?
“Toni Morrison said, ‘The function of freedom is to free someone else,’ and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh well, what are you going to do?”
This week we explore the concept of freedom and its effect on those around us with a quote from Anne Lamott. Veronica illustrates how everything is connected by discussing how we learn from our teachers, then pass along those lessons to others. Likewise, she says, as we work towards our own freedom by opting out of keeping secrets, we in turn liberate those around us.
The quote from Anne Lamott discusses this liberation as a result of telling your story, which Veronica elaborates leads to the ability to live with presence and joy. Doing so can be a way of leading by example, teaching others how to find the same freedom..
In the process of telling stories and bringing secrets to light, we can sometimes see those around us facing their own discomfort and insecurities about the change this creates in the status quo. Veronica explains how others’ insecurities lead us in turn to face old beliefs from childhood about people pleasing as necessary to feeling safe and loved. As we grow, we realize we cannot be pleasers and at the same time be faithful to the truth. So as Ann Lamott asks, “What are you going to do?” we find a more specific question: Will you choose hiding and security, or living out loud with the truth?