The Namaste Conspiracy

Life’s Symphony
Ponder something for a moment…what does harmony mean to you What
does having harmony in your life look like…feel like If you’re stuck coming up
with an answer, no need to worry. I did a mini-sensing project with a handful of
friends and family ranging from actors/models, authors, chemical engineering
professionals, screenwriters, and even a PhD percussionist. The meanings
shared were beautiful, quite frankly, a bouquet entwined with words like love,
well, spirit, and peace and phrases like ‘multiple pieces’, ‘synergistic kind of way’,
‘coming together’, ‘absence of conflict’, and ‘opposite of discord’.
Race and Namaste
As you’re smelling that bouquet, journey with me a moment. Picture yourself
at the symphony. Everyone is in their best dress and polished to perform. The
conductor’s wand is raised and the music begins. As the first piece progresses,
among the layers of chords and notes, you hear dissonance. A loud, horribly out
of tune trumpeter is somewhere in the symphony’s midst. At times it sounds as if
this individual is playing a completely different sheet of music. Slowly but surely
you find yourself distracted...unable to hear anything else BUT that trumpet.
When it’s not being played you’re waiting to hear if and when it will start again.
Your entire symphony experience has been reduced to a game of hide-andseek
with the sound of this off-tune trumpet. And that, my friends, depicts the
importance of YOU, the extreme importance you play in the symphony of life.
In order to successfully take part in harmony, your note must be in tune. Yes,
harmony is all about different elements working together to create something
more beautiful than individual parts but that can’t be achieved without every
element being in tune. Being healthy. Being strong. Being confident. Being
aware. Life’s symphony falls apart without the strength of its individual parts…
without the strength of you.
Now if you find you’re in tune but still lacking harmony in your life, well that’s OK.
You’ve got choices my friend: Either change your tune or change the symphony
around you.
Stuck in rut Curiosities nagging at you ‘Day job’ getting in the way
Well it may be time to change your symphony. Think about it. What if an
operatic soprano tried engaging in a jam session with John Mayer. How
do you think it would sound Not so great, right It would be an attempt
to marry completely different strengths and
styles…sure they would all be in tune but the
result would probably sound…off. That just
may exemplify you. Your brilliance may be
drowning or sticking out like a sore thumb in
your current symphony. So perhaps change
the symphony to enable that brilliance to
shine or throw a raft out to that drowning
talent.
So what will you do to tune your note
today To increase your awareness of
the notes being played around you To
ensure you’re in the right company of musicians
Ultimately to increase the strength of YOUR note in
life’s symphony
February is Black History
Month and the theme
of Aquarius this month
is “Namaste”.
So this month I’ll try to join these two
themes and make a heavy request of folks
who cling to something that’s bigger than
us (Allah, God, or some other Great Thing).
Here are five practical ways that you (and
I) may be able to recognize the spark of
divinity and humanity within our brothers
and sisters without squashing it out.
1. Speak up. Our black brothers and
sisters have undergone generations of
political and social discrimination. Yet
there are well meaning, spiritual, and good
humans who refuse to admit that things
like white privilege still exist. This refusal
to acknowledge this discrimination isn’t
founded in hate or racism. It’s founded in
ignorance. It’s not a purposeful ignorance
most of the time but it is ignorance. White
folks who have the voice and privilege
have to sacrifice this privilege and side
with our oppressed brothers and sisters.
We have to for the sake of our own souls.
Those of us who are not blind to our own
privilege have to forsake that privilege.
2. Ever the contrarian, I say the second
thing we must do is to shut up when the
voice of the oppressed is speaking. I don’t
deal with the discrimination my brothers
and sisters face, therefore I am not the
BEST person to speak about it.
Don’t crowd out their voices.
3. Go to rallies and marches. Be politically
active and more than on social media.
Literally stand in solidarity with your
brothers and sisters in the face of injustice.
4. Read the book
“The New Jim
Crow” by Michelle
Alexander to learn
about sentencing
disparities and the
hard truth about
discrimination in
our court system.
5. Educate
yourself. Listen to
the voices of our
black brothers and sisters. Listen to the
pain in their voices when they talk about
their encounters with police persons. Pay
attention when the parents of black kids
are worried their kids are the next Trayvon
Martin or the next Mike Brown.
Whatever light you hold onto in this world,
hold onto it tightly. Change is coming. We
live in the era of unveiling and progress.
Darkness is being brought to light by the
prophets of our generation. Recognize
the divine spark in all of our brothers and
sisters, even those who we feel may be
the enemy.
Namaste
Cassandra Worthy
is a life lover, risk taker, wit injector, blogger, and
chemical engineer. Her dedication spans across
family, joy, experiencing the new,
and all things science.
Follow her at www.journeyinjoy.net
Email: worthy.cd@gmail.com
Terry Cranford-Smith is a writer, pastor, preacher, and
Misfit in the way of Jesus. Terry is renowned for posting
controversial Facebook posts, taking pictures of his dog, and
loving his wife, Bec. You can find him involved in the Wild
Goose Festival, Moral Monday, and Church of the Misfits
www. AQ -atl.com
•
AQUARIUS
•
FEBRUARY 2015 PG 27