Check out: Memoirs of a Superfan Vol. 15.2: Lama Rod Owens and the Emotional Body of Asian Americans

Lama Rod Owens is "a self-described “Black, queer, cisgender, and male-identified, fat, mixed-class, Buddhist teacher and minister, yoga teacher, and shit-talking Southerner.'"

Dear all,

So much of the news cycle is the same old same old. I'm putting myself in the growth zone with my writing. I hope my new blog series helps put you in a growth zone as well. Written at the intersection of Black and Asian Lives, I'm trying to convene my neurons around what is arising in the culture. The first blog post was about the conflicted silences in the Asian American community; while some, including myself, do our best to write, march, speak out, we're still peripheralized. But we do need to break silences in our relationships, and many people have been learning more about BLM, and actively working with the moral distress of knowing what is wrong and yet seeing what is actually happening. We must turn distress into action, but also inner action - to lift our spirits and push through towards strategic victories against racism, gaslighting and delusion.

"Movements are both gravitational and centrifugal. Time and love can bring us together, but we haven’t yet been able to fully gather their steam. Lucky for us, we have quite a boiler in the White House, and perhaps we will soon hear the whistle of the Freedom Train."

 In the latest article, I discuss Lama Rod Owens book Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger at East Wind ezine. If you are interested in this series, I will be publishing every 2 weeks or so, and you can sign up for updates at East Wind. My next blog posts will take on major delusions in the American psyche, and I promise you food for thought and personal growth.

Memoirs of a Superfan Vol. 15.2: Lama Rod Owens and the Emotional Body of Asian Americans

"But how can you belong to a community that has itself been deprived of belonging, that has anesthetized itself from its possibility, yet remains in denial of the surgeon’s knife which threatens to carve us apart as if we weren’t one body at all?"

I have hope. I am trying to create clarity and community in my writing, at a time when we are being bombarded with propagandistic messages. But I have to admit, it seems really hard to find my audience. I've written so much for years, and gotten solidly good responses, but somehow feel stalled and stymied. The most popular writers on Psychology Today say they write for a 9th grade reading level. But I don't want to do that, because I don't want to think at a 9th grade level. I hope there is an audience for thoughtful, humorous, creative original writing from this particular Asian American. Right now, I naturally feel a mismatch between my efforts and the payoff in terms of readership and sharing of my work. I know I'm not alone. It's such a common feeling amongst writers and creative people, and really probably all people. 

Underneath our silence lurks many emotions - rage, frustration, anger, sadness, resignation. My sense is that we have to find ourselves in the present moment, and not make stories about the future or get bound by our anxieties or doubt. We can't throw in the kitchen sink of unsolvable problems. We have to be present and related to each other in the here and now. Then we can create safety and trust, and move forward together. COVID times are stilling - nothing to do, really, but be present and related anyway, and nurture yourself and others who can be nurtured.

Warmly,

Ravi

An image from my next post in 2 weeks. Sign up for updates at East Wind eZine.