These are times to regularly engage in responsible acts of rebellion

How regularly are you engaging in acts of rebellion?

I’m not talking about rebellion that comes in the form of tattoos and hair dye, nor stealing your parents car and sneaking off with your boyfriend, I’m talking grown up rebellion. The kind of rebellion that sticks it to the man in a way that stirs souls and sparks change, the kind of rebellion that creates distance and differentiates you from the status quo of a sick and dying culture while simultaneously bringing you closer to your people - the ones whom you share visions of a new Earth with.

Rebellion is often synonymous or at least closely linked to being irresponsible, but I posit we can, as a society, rebel as an act of radical responsibility.

Think about it, what if your parents were running their household like a bunch of irresponsible kids - making messes, destroying their house, eating junk, upsetting the neighbors, fighting and upholding an atmosphere of chaos and lies? What if you were a big enough kid to see that something needed to change and you knew what the solutions were?

Your rebellion against the status quo would look like righting their wrongs, cleaning up the messes they made, creating more peace, transparency, justice and equity. You’d be rebellious against the oppressors’ mistakes and by doing so would take steps towards responsibility.

Some say that humanity is in a our teenage stage of development. All the angst, destruction and individualistic behavior. But here’s the other thing about teenagers. They know shit. They smell bullshit from a mile away. They’re expressive, bold and fiercely loyal to their beliefs and the people that hold similar worldviews. They hold freedom as the ultimate truth and will push up against anything that stands in the way of it. They are unrelenting. Teenagers have power.

So what if we connected with our teenage selves right now? What if our teenage selves could bring the fuel and power it’s going to take to shake things up?

Righting the wrongs of the culture at large is going to require that type of fierceness.

And while the archetype of the teenager knows it’s time to break out the box and has the power to do so, we might also invite along the part of us known as the Self.

Not Self as packaged in unhealthy ego nor Self as in the individual separate from our fellow humans, but capital “S” Self that is the deep place of knowing we’ve all had since we were born, Self that is synonymous with the essence of who we are as a multidimensional beings and creators. Self that is that deepest stillpoint that reaches into the heart of all that is. Self as visionary. Self that has always held, no matter how far away it may seem at times, the vision of beauty we know to be possible.

To carry hope and beauty as the guiding principle, rather than the diseases of the dying cultures we were raised in, is in and of itself an act of rebellion.

To hold an unwavering worldview that understands and deeply feels the profound ways we ALL are connected. This is rebellion.

Responsible rebellion isn’t always showy.

To remember our ancestors and know the names of trees. This is rebellion.

To smile at your neighbor and genuinely inquire as to how they are. This is rebellion.

To wear the size too big sweater from the thrift shop rather than the sweatshop made box store version you saw an influencer wearing. This is rebellion.

To put your phone down and pick up a paintbrush or a guitar to sing around a campfire. This is rebellion.

To buy the dirt covered carrots from your farmer friend rather than the plastic wrapped, well traveled, carrots who were born into chemicals that are now killing fish downstream from where they broke ground. This is rebellion.

To smile in the sunshine. To plant a garden of your own. To keep bees. To wild forage healing herbs for your tea. To speak up against racism. To support local. To check on your friend whose been going through it. To laugh with your children. To release perfectionism and trying to fit in. To REST. To be a real human with a real vision.

This is rebellion too. And rebellion is our responsibility. And now is the time we rebel.

Who’s with me? (punk music blasting in my head)