Black Lives Matter & The Search for Freedom
 

I am wishing each of you some measure of peace during what is a momentous and painful time in our history. I have been fairly quiet as I’ve been navigating many aspects of my personal and family life at the same time as the world has been in the process of conflict, chaos, and deep change. I wanted to take the time to acknowledge what’s happening in the world, so that you can understand where I (and Wander Free Wellness) stand. You may or may not agree with me, and that’s okay. I believe that ideas are not fixed, as my own beliefs and ideas are constantly evolving with the changing times, and as I gather more information. Respectful dialogue (even when in disagreement) is important in this society (and unfortunately, seems to be a dying art).
 

One of the core values of Wander Free Wellness is freedom. I strive to create offerings that help each person to connect to the deepest truest form of themselves. Every single person deserves to live a life where they are free to be their authentic selves, free from the limitations of conditioning by an oppressive system.
 

Unfortunately, we do not yet live in a world where that is possible. The last several weeks have shined a bright light on this truth. However, I believe we may be in the midst of a turning point. I hope we will see the change in this lifetime, and I do believe we are here on this earth at this particular time, to be a part of the solution.
 

The Black Lives Matter movement is a crucial piece to the puzzle in the never-ending search for true freedom. And it’s been quoted many a time, by various people and in different words, that none of us is free until all of us are free. Black lives more than matter, and all of us must band together to fight for our fellow humans.
 

I strive to stand as an ally in this movement, and lately have been trying to understand what true allyship really means. During the last several weeks, I have been made even more deeply aware of my privilege as a white woman, and I am completing my own inner work to understand the ways that I may have been contributing to a culture that is systemically racist and that has benefitted me, merely because of the color of my skin. If you are a white human and haven’t started digging into this work, I have found these curated resources by Rachel Ricketts were a great starting point for me.
 

As an initial step toward furthering my allyship, I am going to donate 10% of all of my profits on yoga classes, jewelry, and bug rub (my natural bug repellant) for the months of June and July to this beautiful organization: https://thelovelandfoundation.org.
 

I will continue to do my inner work. Please stay tuned, or feel free to ask me any time, for more ways that Wander Free Wellness will work to give back to BIPOC and the Black Lives Matter initiative.
 

We all have both individual and collective work to do. We must do the individual work of identifying and changing our privilege, bias, and limiting beliefs. And we must also do the work out in the world of dismantling larger systems of oppression. One type of work is not more important than the other. What is our individual role, and how can we contribute to the whole? I don’t have all the answers, but it’s important to keep the conversation going.
 

In addition, I do not support mentalities that are promoting further division amongst our fellow humans. I’ve noticed that more than ever before, there are forces at work that are seeking to divide us (violently) across various lines, particularly political party lines. We must rise above this, and see that change is more effective when we band together.
 

This is much larger than who we choose to vote for. These systems have been in place throughout centuries of oppression and control, throughout decades of both Democratic and Republican “rule,” and they are not going to be changed with a single vote in a single year. Believing this is like taking an ibuprofen for a fever without treating the root cause of the festering infection.
 

Massive change, throughout our country’s recent history, did not come about merely with a vote. The establishment, and the government, does not simply “decide” to make changes because of who is in political office at the time. The women’s suffrage movement was not successful simply because of how the country voted. The civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s did not gain traction only because of a vote. Change was delivered because enough people came together and demanded it.
 

The “us” versus “them” mentality created across party lines has never served humanity. This is a war mentality. The war, for lack of a better term, should not be against our neighbors. Rather, we should recognize the war as one against an inequitable establishment that has persecuted people and propagated hate and “otherness” for far too long. “Divide and conquer” has been an ongoing tactic of the white supremacist, capitalistic, patriarchal society that has kept inequality, injustice, and the one of the widest wealth gaps in the world THRIVING.
 

How can we change an entire system if we are too busy, too distracted, fighting amongst ourselves?
 

How do we band together against the common enemy of oppression and inequality?
 

Again, I do not have all the answers, and I appreciate that some of you may not agree with everything I’ve said, and that’s okay. I believe it’s my duty as a questioner and seeker, and facilitator of spiritual practices, to ask these types of questions and perhaps spark new, different, or outside of the box thinking. After all, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”
 

What I do know: it’s time to dig deep, to stop putting bandaids on a gaping gushing wound, and to discover the true root cause of our societal ill - and treat that.
 

Forever in search of freedom and truth.
 

Love,
Jen