This Restorative Process

Healing happens here in the present.

When humans are in conflict, things need to be sorted out. It may be a simple quarrel, or it may be a horrid crime committed. Still, the process is the same. Restoration.

Restorative Justice is the term that came into being in in the early 1990s. “Restorative justice is a fast-growing state, national, and international social movement that seeks to bring together people to address the harm caused by crime,” write Mark Umbreit and Marilyn Peterson Armour. “Restorative justice views violence, community decline, and fear-based responses as indicators of broken relationships. It offers a different response, namely the use of restorative solutions to repair the harm related to conflict, crime, and victimization.” -from wiki

A similar phenomenon occurred in school systems eager to find a better methodology than punishing and expelling students for unacceptable behavior. In this case the same process is referred to as ‘Restorative Practices’. Both terms share the same key features.

As noted above in the quote, the old methods of demonizing a bad actor are recognized as the result of broken relationships. Indeed, it is these relationships which must be healed. Whether the result of a criminal act, or someone acting out in school, the process is the same. Restoring relationships.

Typically, the process begins with a cooling off period, where offender and victim or two or more acting out are removed from contact with others until emotions become settled. Then offender and victim, or those acting out, are brought together for a conversation. Ideally the setting is a ‘Restorative Circle’.

In a Restorative Circle, those involved and one or two mediators form a circle with chairs. This is in contrast to situations where, say in a classroom, where someone is ‘in charge’ at the front of the room. The circle becomes an equalizer. All participants share in the physical circle.

Then the task is to encourage everyone to be ‘present’. From the World5 perspective, we recognize that Life happens only Now, so it is but aligning with the truth of our reality. Regardless, the point is to see the humanity in everyone who is engaged in the process, and to approach the session with a clear mind and warm heart. No name calling, no speaking over one another, no blame. Openness is key.

Once the space for healing is established and everyone is present, meaningful conversations begin. And they begin with questions. The questions are not accusatory… “Billy why did you hit Bobby?” The questions are honest efforts to understand those involved. “Billy, what were the circumstances that led you to think hitting Bobby was the best option?” “How were you feeling when the encounter occurred?” How do you think Bobby felt during the encounter?” What do you thing we might do to minimize the damage done, to each of you and your classmates, and prevent such situations from reoccurring?”

Again referring to the quote above, these are not ‘fear-based questions’. This is an honest effort at healing. An honest effort toward restoration.

Clearly not everyone and every situation is going to be in the space to leverage This Restorative Process. In severe criminal cases, it might be months or years before the space to forgive and heal exists for a victim. Yet the value of This Restorative Process is not hampered by the time required to seek restoration.

It’s quite simple when we’re paying attention. De-escalate the situation. Make sure the folks involved are able to get past the emotions of the moment. Once such a settling has occurred, we get present with each other. Hence, THIS Restorative Process. And once we’re settled and clear minded, we ask Questions That Matter. These are key because there is no attempt to punish or blame, just to understand what happened with as much clarity as possible. And then all do what is needed to heal and make amends.

This process is ground-breaking. It has the potential to transform policing, the criminal justice system, school systems, families and our very lives. I leave you with a 20 minute film that highlights Restorative Practices in the Finneytown School System, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio…

Personal Healing

“When we identify with the ego, we cannot be fearless. When we identify with Awareness, we cannot be afraid.” – World 5.0

Our Levels of Being

Before we can discuss our personal evolution we must be agreed on what we are. ree components are involved, making us something of a hybrid. e rst component is our consciousness, our “divine spark” or core of Eternal Awareness. While individualized, as a subset of awareness, consciousness is eternal. is is who we are at the deepest level. Next, and this is the one most uniquely human: we are thinkers and feelers. We have minds. We have hearts. We have intent. Together they form our souls. On this level we are quite capable of divorcing ourselves from our physical surroundings and living in a world of ideas or emotions. e opposite is true as well: we are quite capable of seeing ourselves as little more than bodies. e third component is our evolving physicality—we are bodies.

In short, we are conscious, symbol and emotion-oriented, physical entities. As such, the laws we live by can seem quite complicated, because the physical laws that apply to our bodies may di er from those that apply to our souls and both may di er from the laws of consciousness. Let’s try to do a bit of sorting, shall we?

We are our bodies. No question. We have obvious physicalness, clearly an essential part of our present reality. To deny the reality of our body, or consider it as somehow unclean or unwholesome, leaves us in a precarious position. Our bodies ground us to the life experience we’re currently in. Our senses are tools for experiencing this life. Our bodies tether us to this current reality.

Aspects of the realm of the body include feeling physical pain or pleasure, seeing the e ects of time on our body and being part of the solid reality within which we exist. Pretty basic stu . It’s what the body is not or does not do that can cause so much confusion.

Personal Healing

While the body feels pleasure and pain, it does not create feelings of fear or love. ose are mental/emotional constructs, created at the level of intent, or the soul. We imagine that our bodies react with fear to say, a sense of falling, but if we consider falling an immense pleasure, we will enjoy the sensation [though we may still splat at the end]. We would then nd ourselves severely hurt and in excruciating pain, which may change our opinion on the pleasurability of falling. But that decision, and the decision to be afraid the next time we nd ourselves falling [if we so choose], comes from our intent. In as much as we spend immeasurable time fearing and fretting for our bodies, it is a requirement of peace to understand that fear exists on the mental/ emotional level. Bodies do not fear.

Similarly, our bodies may hurt due to a past incident, disease or the toll of aging. Associating this hurt with a particular behavior, say being hit by a car, will cause us to try to avoid such situations in the future. But this predilection to avoid similar situations is mental, emotional and psychological. e body, per se, is no more likely to avoid being hit again than it was the rst time. It can be argued that animals take steps to avoid future pain, but such foresight is in direct proportion to the level of consciousness contained by that life-form—again indicating that it is at the level of intent that such interpretations are made. Bodies are emotionally neutral. It is our intent that has us quaking in fear or resting in peace.

At the other extreme of who we are, we are individualized Awareness. Consciousness is the eternal component that we partake in. Awareness is eternal, and like begets like. is level is the level of Eternity, or God if you prefer. It literally is Peace. It has no need of repair. So we have both an evolutionary body and an eternal spirit, setting the stage for some interesting dynamics.

Which brings us to the level of thoughts and emotions, the level of mind and heart, where the action is for us alive on Planet Earth: the place between consciousness and physicality. It is the level of intent, or the soul. It is on this level that meaning is found and decisions are made. All our impressions and emotions, all our victories and failures, all our interpretations of reality come on this level. Our intent scurries frantically when overwhelmed by fear, stress or drama. Our intent also rests quietly when attuned to Awareness. It is intent that plans for tomorrow and remembers yesterday. Intent generates our attitudes, passions, ideologies and emotions. Even when we’re literally paralyzed with fear, like a deer in the headlights, it is our intent that creates this condition.

As we move to find our truest selves, we must come to understand on which level a problem exists. is is required so we can address the problem at the correct level. Of course the level of spirit has no problems, so we’re down to two. As noted above, the body is non- thinking and emotionally neutral. It cannot generate fear or love. If we lose a hand, the body will do its best to survive as best it can, with no emotional overtones. It’s incapable of them. But if our thoughts and feelings bemoan the loss, we tend to think of the body as the reason for our distress. Not true.

Glorifying the body will not succeed. Glorifying the Eternal is not enough. We must understand that the playground of healing is the level of the soul. We must learn to appreciate that our intent is the singular instrument of our transformation.

CINCINNATI – Hemp Capital

We can make Cincinnati the first ‘Hemp Hub’ in these United States.

Growing hemp, marijuana’s fiberous cousin, has been federally legalized as of 2018. The feds are still sorting out some of the details for what can be grown, processed and manufactured, there is a marvelous opportunity here.

So, it’s an excellent time to think about how our region can leverage this change in legal status to become a hub of hemp processing and manufacturing.

What’s the big deal? Hemp is a big deal. Humans and hemp have a long history, briefly interrupted in the 1930s when super elite huckster William Randolph Hearst used his yellow press and political influence to make hemp illegal. As it happens, he could make more money on his paper using wood pulp, as he owned lots of forest. Hemp, along with marijuana, was thoroughly demonized.

But back to the big deal. Hemp is an incredibly versatile plant, with each part of the plant providing useful products. Hemp is easily grown with little in the way of chemicals or fertilizer needed. It’s suited to relatively small plots of farmland, which are abundant in southern Ohio and much of Kentucky.

Hemp fiber is strong and durable, one of its earlier uses being the canvas sails that allowed for global travel hundreds of years ago. There were no long ocean-faring ships until the 16th century when Europeans discovered the Arabian secret of constructing hemp sails.

Hemp clothing alone could be transformative. The original Levi’s Jeans were made from hemp sailcloth, and today’s cottonized hemp is a versatile option for any number of cloth and fiber products.

Our Constitution was written on hemp paper. Hemp fibers can strengthen any number of other products as well, including building products. Actually, combined with other hemp materials and composites, it’s stronger and cheaper than wood or concrete for building. And shoes, yes, for generations hemp shoes were a thing, and they are starting to make a come back.

Hemp seeds can be used as food and seasoning, but are most commonly used to press the oil from them. Hemp oils can be used in cooking, on the skin, and ingested to mitigate a variety of discomforts. The seeds themselves are a bit nutty tasting, and can be used in salads or as a garnish.

Hemp roots are valuable as well, having been used as a health remedy and tea since ancient times. Powders or ground into a paste, it has diuretic properties and is a staple of natural healing methodologies.

In 1941, Henry Ford built a car out of hemp. It was not only built out of hemp plastic, but it also ran on hemp fuel. Hemp plastic was tested to be much stronger than steel. They tried denting the hemp car with a hammer, but the car didn’t even budge.

And those are just some of the basics. Hemp composites, where fibers, oils and powders are mixed to create or replace plastics are being discovered. Hemp composites to be used in 3D printing are only now beginning to be understood. Hemp was a key ingredient in Roman aqueducts, explaining while some are still standing 2,000 years later.

Of course, this notion of making Cincinnati a Hemp Hub has a ton of potential and needs far more discussion. Cincinnati’s mayor and council need to make this a priority in 2022 and beyond. The scalability, local nature and community-building aspects of hemp farming and processing are all wondrous and worth pursuing. There is no Hemp Hub or Hemp Capital yet in these United States. It seems like wonderful time for Cincinnati to lead the way.

From Corporations to Cooperatives

There’s really no need to expound on the state of our lives and our Earth in this time. The evidence is abundant and clear. We live under the rule of the global corporate state. Nation states, especially empires like the U.S., still play a large role, but the controllers are obviously the people behind global corporations, especially financial ones. We are not helpless and we can no longer tolerate this.

While stats like the relative wealth of the 1/10th of 1% compared to the rest of us can be eye opening, they do little to aid us in finding a remedy to this unconscionable situation. And these same elitists and psychopaths have no interest in the remedy.

We do not change something so substantial in isolation. We change everything. Starting with ourselves and our context about living. This Great Turning encompasses an evolutionary leap, a new way forward with a vastness we were previously unaware and incapable of.

Contrary to the old adage that ‘money is the root of all evil’, money is but a tool. At issue is the way money is managed, which is very poorly in the corporate state. These soulless institutions were designed to limit liability, and allow those behind corporations to profit unduly. By rights they should be illegal, as their intent is not the common good. It is the corporation, not money itself, that needs to be banned.

So it’s clear that corporations, since their ‘modern’ inception in 1600 where Queen Elizabeth first allowed the charter of East India Company, have sped the introduction of technology and fostered global trade. It’s equally clear that they’ve outlived whatever usefulness they may have had.

Western Europe’s centuries of colonialism were done at the behest of corporate interests, just as United States imperialism exists today to continue the dominant, controlling role corporations have in our world.

The obvious question becomes what about all the manufacturing, trade and services these corporations provide? Surely we can’t just disappear corporations!

No, we can’t. But we can, with political will, force their end by converting them to worker-owned cooperatives. How we muster such will when nation states and media are in lock step with these corporate behemoths is the real question.

Of Clear Mind and Warm Heart

In this time of brokenness, where truth is lost to lies and propaganda at a record pace, there is a respite. There is a way to discern what is ‘real’ from all the bullshit we live in. There is a place to ground oneself…

The place we ground ourselves is Here in Life. The totality of Now. Recognizing that we’re All Here Together, and that we go on like this for eternity, helps us find our place in life. Even when we stop breathing and lose our bodies, we continue forward, even as our ancestors and so many family members and friends have passed into a different form, but they remain with us. Hold our ground, it never fails.

In this time of brokenness, the above is not easily understood even though it’s the central fact of our existence. We’ve been traumatized and bamboozled and abused for generations. No wonder the above seems hard to grasp.

The way we ground ourselves Here in Life is through breathing and meditation. They go together. The very act of paying attention to our breathing helps to ground us in this moment. If we focus on our breath, we let the rapid fire of thoughts in our head settle just a bit, becoming less pronounced, less distracting. We breathe, we relax, we let go, working our way to a sense of gratitude.

Gratitude is such a part of Love that the experience of it brings alignment and peace. We become much more ‘in our bodies’ and in our feelings. We roll with how we feel, even as we intend a quiet mind and warm heart.

Now, there are times in processing our PTSD that our emotions run wild. Let them, so long as it’s not a destructive pattern. Even when it feels like our heart is being torn, go with it. In feeling our feelings, by being in our bodies, we heal. 

As is clear, these are not normal or typical times we live in. We are in the early stages of transformative change. Our broken culture is being replaced by one that is far healthier and far more fair. The corrupt system is breaking down more each day.

Our part is to hold this space. Hold it with love, even as we are held by Life Itself. If you feel like engaging actively in this vast transition, follow your heart to do what feels best to you. Engage in local endeavors for change. Engage in politics. Become a champion for our Earth.

This is the process. And this is learning to be our true selves. We move from Here with a clear mind and a warm heart. 

Breathing into Now

In these times of turbulence and trauma, there is one simple exercise we can all do that helps to heal our bodies, dissipate our fears, and increase our sense of well being and belonging. Yes, of course, it’s breathing.

Many of us recognize this incredible phenomenon, and yet it is hardly mentioned outside of New Age conversations and recognitions. Breathing. When’s the last time your doctor, if ever, suggested you take deep, aware breathes to help with a particular ailment? Right. Likely never.

Most of us go through our lives with little recognition of this healing effort. So simple, so mundane, and yet so wondrous. Indeed, it is the one practice that confirms our existence as biological beings. It’s what gets busy when we exert ourselves.  It is the force of life itself manifesting within us. 

One of the reasons this aspect of living is so neglected is the applied context of the old cultural system. In a world where we are presumed to be isolated and alone, with past and future constantly pressing us, where living in the bubble of our individuality is the norm, ignoring our breathing is to be expected.

But that doesn’t make such neglect a good thing. Far from it. 

Physiologically, breathing provides the oxygen for our cells and body processes to do their thing. On inhale, oxygen into the lungs is transferred to our blood stream, and from there to every point in our body. The exhale removes wastes and toxins from our system. It’s a remarkable and constant process.

And yet the rewards for conscious breathing are much deeper. We must deepen our view to see how this is so.

The deeper view is Life itself, this incredibly vast entanglement of awareness and energy that we all live in. Life happens only Now, and while we each of us hold our own space in this physical existence, we all necessarily share this time. Indeed, this is the only time that exists. In the temporal frame, Now is total. We all share Now. We are all Here together.

Stuck as we are in our busy little heads as we often are, our reality seems foreign. Our thoughts and worries seem far more real to us. Our emotional duress, even from events decades ago, can seem more real to us. Our belief codes, these powerful notions handed down to us by parents and culture, seem far more real to us. We have all these stories about gods and politics and the nature of things. Not true. Only Now Is True.

Check in with the animals and plants surrounding us. Where do they exist? What do they ‘do’ outside of this present experience of Life. Check your phone. When does it work, take photos or take you to some fresh clickbait? Check in with your favorite quantum physicist. Where do all these quantum entanglements happen. When does the observer affect the experiment? Yup.

So let’s circle back to our breathing. Of course it only happens now, and the impact of recognizing this truth brings grounding. Breathing connects us to this reality of Life in a way not possible through thought. In fact, thought tends to disconnect us. Thoughts reinforce the bubble mentality of being alone.

But focusing on our breathing – such a sweet way to spend this moment, to be with our bodies, connected with mind and spirit. Such a sweet bliss within this simple act as it works to help heal and find ourselves. And has we find ourselves, we find each other.

Hmmm. If thoughts tend to reinforce a bubble mentality, perhaps I should stop trying to use them to support this recognition of our common place in time.

Breathe into Now.

Rise of the Rainbow Tribe

We are emerging. We are finding our power. We are finding each other. We are Warriors of the Rainbow Tribe.

You of elitist tendencies cannot see us. You born into wealth and privilege cannot imagine us. You of the current power structure underestimate us. But we are Here, and we are emerging.

We are Warriors of the Rainbow. You saw us in Zuccotti Park, resisting the banksters that seek to impoverish our sisters and brothers. You saw us in Tunisia, where a brother set himself aflame in protest of corruption, awakening our people to form a new government. You saw us in Libya and Egypt, where you thwarted our efforts to create real change – if temporarily.

You saw us in Ferguson, Missouri, resisting the cold blooded murder of our brother Michael Brown finally igniting the reaction so desperately needed to stop these racially motivated murders. In Cleveland, in Chicago, LA, even my Cincinnati, all over this nation we rise to salute the fallen, and resist the blue boys and their masters, the perpetrators of this violence.

You saw us in Hong Kong, rising up against totalitarianism from the Chinese government, and in Tibet, where you illegally planted your flag over 50 years ago. You saw us in the Middle East, the unnamed peacemakers and healers hidden by mainstream media. You begin to see us even now.

And as Trump becomes the law of the land, you begin to see us everywhere. Just a few weeks back the largest protest in our planet’s history, as millions of women and supporting men stood for truth and justice. And again, as Muslims are being dishonored here in Trumpland, we stand, filling airports and neighborhoods with love and resistance to their bullshit power and greed. Our ‘leaders’ are even afraid to hold a town hall.

We are Warriors of the Rainbow.

We seek the dissolution of a culture where corporations are in control, and nation states do their bidding to keep us dazed and traumatized. This artificial legal entity ‘corporation’ – designed to usurp citizen’s rights and community strengths – must be banned.

We seek a dissolution of this system of globalization, where profits are privatized and deep environmental devastation is socialized, rarely addressed by the corporate polluters. 

We seek a dissolution of the ‘for profit healthcare’ system. When it comes to human life and health, the profit motive does not belong.

We seek a dissolution of our broken government. The allowance of voting, almost always somehow rigged, is not enough. We seek a shift in power and taxation to the local level, as far as possible, to enhance the value and focus of how our tax money is spent.

We are Warriors of the Rainbow, and we seek far more than dissolving obstacles.

We seek families and communities that thrive, where each has their needs met, each contributes what they can, and each appreciates the inherent values of integrity, peace and love. This means a clear rejection of Trumpism and the war paradigm at every turn.

We seek reparations from the elites and controlling interests who have kept us traumatized,  ignorant and enslaved. These reparations will be used to heal individuals, communities and our dear planet Earth, so long ravaged by the psychopathic thinking of these same controlling interests. Black and American Indian folks are especially deserving.

We seek wholesome, organic food that supports our bodies and unclutters our minds. To heal we must have vibrant, life-supporting nutrition and ecologies free from harmful pollutants. This migration to organic food necessarily dissolves the industrial agribiz model in favor of an Earth-supporting way of growing our food.

We seek local, sustainable solutions to our energy needs, rejecting fossil fuels at every turn. Solar and wind power, geothermal, tapping into untold power visionaries like Tesla could see – this is our energetic way forward, not in propping up fossil fuels.

We are Warriors of the Rainbow, and we see clearly now. We know we are all here together – here in Life itself. We know that our hope for peace and prosperity comes from creating and building supportive communities. We value integrity and personal responsibility. We know that relinquishing fear, enabling love and peace, in our hearts  and minds, is the way forward.

We are the Rainbow Tribe. Our time is Now. Our answer is Love.