{"id":1254,"date":"2020-07-20T15:13:42","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T19:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sallybsedgwick.com\/conversation\/?p=1254"},"modified":"2020-07-22T17:19:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T21:19:34","slug":"conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"You<\/figure>
\n

\u201cWhat you focus on expands.\u201d This concept shows up in online business and personal growth courses, the teachings of Abraham Hicks<\/a> as written by Esther Hicks, the current behaviors manifested in the political scene, and  the rants of some of my friends. There are extensions to this idea. The statement  that practicing gratitude creates happiness and success i<\/a>s one. Basics on the craze for learning about manifestation through such coaches as Mike<\/a> and Andy Dooley<\/a> are another.. Even the sexist and, for me, exhausting, 1937 work of Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich<\/em> <\/a>reflects this basic idea. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While I\u2019m writing this we are experiencing a worldwide pandemic, with people ignoring that a virus is rampant by dismissing simple, if inconvenient, guidelines  for keeping it from spreading. George Floyd was massacred in Minneapolis triggering a global confrontation with racism, both systemic and individual. Reactions to both events are being fed by history, politics, and newsfeeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both also illustrate another truism (although I may have made this one up). \u201cWhat you ignore festers.\u201d In the United States our political leaders have encouraged – and ignored – acts of violence and white supremacy. As a result those who act this way\u00a0 have become more and more visible. Many people, including some political leaders, also ignore health guidelines and the impact COVID-19 is having on our healthcare infrastructure. The news, Facebook feeds, and, often, private conversations focus on inflammatory statements and the apparently ill considered behaviors of others giving these statements and actions increasing power. Each response is defended by \u201cneeding to know what\u2019s going on\u201d as well as, apparently, a need to be superior and clever. Note that these responses are focuses. Both the news and the cleverness add to the focus on the situation. And the energy from this attention encourages and fosters additional actions. In the pandemic, we have been encouraged to ignore the situation while others share how it is spreading, are given conflicting information about how the virus spreads, react inconsistently\u00a0 to which measures might be effective, and commiserate as to how unfair and difficult social distancing and quarantine is. There is also reassurance that the danger of the virus and the political implications of racial tension are exaggerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So more anger and violence. More illness and disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet what you ignore festers. Every time we don\u2019t social distance COVID spreads. Pockets of white supremacy and the realities of unaddressed racism explode when given permission in our current political climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Face<\/figure>
\n

How do you address (i.e. not ignore) issues by not focusing on them? Absolutely one should name them – that is the not allowing to fester part. But the secret is to give more power or focus to the actions and stories that  lift up and empower what you want to happen.  The challenge is finding the positive focus. An easy example is Spirit Moxie\u2019s continual emphasis on voting <\/a> as a response to laws, government, and politics. It is police officers handing out masks at a recent demonstration. It is my friend Karen\u2019s careful distancing measures at a family gathering celebrating her grandson\u2019s fifth birthday where a great time was had by all.  It\u2019s my noticing all the people wearing masks vs my friends, visiting the same stores, saying no one was. (I saw only one person with no mask. Really.)  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"Imagine<\/figure>
\n

What do you see and notice that you can celebrate as positive and encourage? Delight in discovering Zoomers (i.e., people born after 1996) can be proactive. People practicing social distancing when you take a walk. Realizing it really is fun to cook from scratch – and tastes better. Watching and supporting an organization revising its DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) vision and guidelines. More fireflies<\/a> and butterflies. Clearer skies. Do you celebrate the heroes in your midst? Are you grateful for honesty and clarity?  Are you practicing gratitude period?  Can you listen with love and really hear what someone is saying? What are your positive actions in this time? <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Share! We need that focus to expand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

___________________________________

Photos from the top:

You become… \u2014 cartoon by Andy Dooley<\/a>
Pile of masks \u2014 Spirit Moxie
Imagine Banner at Salesforce Tower, WeWork.<\/a> San Francisco, CA \u2014 Spirit Moxie

Note: all Amazon links are Spirit Moxie’s, which means we get a couple cents if you buy the book (or whatever), but that doesn’t affect the price you pay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat you focus on expands.\u201d This concept shows up in online business and personal growth courses, the teachings of Abraham Hicks as written by Esther Hicks, the current behaviors manifested in the political scene, and  the rants of some of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[23,24,13],"class_list":["post-1254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asides","tag-covid-19","tag-positivity","tag-racism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DJHl-ke","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1254"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1271,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254\/revisions\/1271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}