Affirmation Mondays 316 ~ ​I decided that the single most subversive, revolutionary thing I could do was to show up for my life and not be ashamed…

“​I decided that the single most subversive, revolutionary thing I could do was to show up for my life and not be ashamed.” ~ Anne Lamott

In a society created to keep us small, simply showing up for yourself without shame is truly subversive…

“​I decided that the single most subversive, revolutionary thing I could do was to show up for my life and not be ashamed.“

When one thinks of something subversive, one tends to think of major or outrageous actions. Ones that make a disruption or that are extremely out of the norm. However, anything subversive is anything that goes against the established norm – no matter how big or small that action may be.

By simply showing up to your life, to your day, as YOU with no shame you are being subversive.

How? Well, we exist in a society that wants us all to conform to very narrow definitions. It wants to make us and keep us small and controllable. It wants us to be mere cogs in a corrupt, broken machine.

By creating a limited template for us through every aspect of our lives and using this to compare us all to each other, it makes us feel anxiety if we don’t measure up to our peers. Since nobody can measure up their unique makeup to anyone else’s, we all feel less than, and the more we feel that the more they can sell us on things to “help”. We then get caught in a never ending cycle of trying to keep up, or one up, everyone else, thus staying small and manageable and not reaching our true soul potential.

Our true soul potential cannot be measured with comparisons or with achievements, rather it is felt and fulfilled with love and kindness and with a shame-free, open acceptance of ourselves and others. It is a difficult thing to reach in society as it is, thus why actively choosing it is considered subversive and revolutionary.

If there is one great thing that this ongoing pandemic has done it’s that is is showing just how ugly and truly broken the “normal” we as a society have relied on for so long is. Each day, each year, that we keep on following along with “normal”, the worse it gets. We willingly live in a society that crushes us into such smallness simply because it is made difficult to see it otherwise.

We have been allowing systematic racism, sexism, violence, greed, and dysfunction to rule and gaslight, belittle, and silence those who try to point out these cruel flaws. We allow hollow, rather baseless arguments to blind us to the real problems (for example the whole abortion debacle while allowing children to be gunned down in schools with only psychologically damaging “active shooter drills” as protection – like, excuse me?!). We label people by erroneous means (skin color, sexual preference, gender, etc), we make impossible demands (you need x amount of education that costs an asinine amount just to get a job that pays next to nothing with no benefits), and then we judge people as lesser than when they meet these ever-changing impossible standards just to make ourselves feel better for barely doing it.

It’s a mess. And it’s time to begin being subversive and revolutionary by saying no. By actively choosing different and then doing and living different. You start by actively showing up to your life without being ashamed. So what if you don’t fit in by “normal” standards. So what if you start enacting boundaries that other question. So what if you loving embrace YOU in all of your unique glory with no shame, no hate, no care for what others think or feel. That’s on them and not yours to take on. Yes be safe and careful, but be YOU.

Be as subversively, revolutionary YOU as only you can and define your own version of “normal”. This is the only way forward. You’ve got this!!!

Namaste ~ Ella

*As a bit of a footnote, Monday Mantras are now going to be Affirmation Mondays since a Mantra is actually a sacred utterance. These posts are lovely bits of uplifting insight and inspiration and thus Affirmation is a much more fitting term.

~ Affirmation Mondays share uplifting words of wisdom, insight, and joy to add a bit of cheer and kindness to the start of your week or any day you need a pick-me-up! For even more inspiration please check out my Affirmation Mondays Pinterest Board and my Quote-spirational Board!