Lor'Avvu

Are we all politicians? The story of Sonia’s life touches on some political issues that I hope are familiar to our world. But there are other things left unsaid.

One idea which may show up for some readers is that when we represent our community (when we dialogue with each other), we are representative of not just ourselves but the multiple connections we have to our concentric circles of family and friends. If politics is considered a formalization of social effects, then any social effect we have can become political.

Those “elected” — whether they are actually elected by any legitimate process or some more likely flawed process of polling, and where cheating is par for the course — might be considered an impossible ideal of carrying around true dialogue to all the circles we don’t relate to personally.

What ends up “winning” the attention of politicians entrusted with decision making power is sometimes just a good argument; we can hope it will be an argument for good. Yet, often they/she/he/ze develop(s) a skewed version of a truth by hearing a single emotional truth outvoicing the others. Regardless of the reason for or cause of this, it can mean that their emotional reality becomes skewed from true reality. Fear can take over.

When we trade stories and express them to one another, and bond with each other, we are developing emotional truths together. An unofficial “legal tender” develops from those with more popular stories. If we allow official politicians to be the only ones moving stories into political action, we run the risk of outvoicing a quiet but important voice. It isn’t just our responsibility to protest and yell and boycott; we must also listen for marginalized or even merely quiet voices. In a vast feast of ever heightened emotional media consumption, it is sometimes difficult to hear them. It is unrealistic to rely on highly pressured politicians to hear and represent what we cannot.

Bonding with each other in community and forming good interrelation with those around us and those connected with us are skills and natural “strategies” for good, balance and harmony to prevent abstracted speculations (or lies) from ruling too much of our lives.

It is sometimes asked, “Who represents the tree? The insect? The birds? All the varieties of life?”

They can represent themselves in our political considerations if we learn to listen to them too. And if that doesn’t work, maybe our political considerations are out of balance with creation.