Concepts
Ideas and topics that help us understand our world.
Attention
Attention is power. Where do we direct our attention? Who do we give it to? External attention (like feeling desired, admired...) can lead to spiritual ego. It's important to not confuse this type of attention with connection. Attention is a near enemy of love. "What you pay attention to grows." – adrienne maree brown in Emergent Strategy "The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers." – Thích Nhất Hạnh - Flashlight of Awareness - Gratitude Journaling
Meditation
Meditation is about taking time to slow down, be present, and listen to what's going on inside and around us. Meditation may serve different purposes, for example: - Mindfulness Meditation: A focus on observing thoughts and practicing the ability to notice when the mind is wandering. - Working with the unconscious: Bringing ourselves into a meditative state to uncover what is hidden (shadow work) or to make positive change of patterns and belief systems (light work). Most meditations incorporate some or many of the following practices: - Stillness - Breathing - Visualization - Bringing attention to the body and our senses
Negative Sentiment Override
Negative Sentiment Override happens when resentment takes over and colors our perception of others' behavior. The most neutral statement can be understood as an attack when we attribute negative intention to it. The Negative Sentiment Override and the Golem effect are closely related. When we notice the Negative Sentiment Override affecting our thoughts, we can work on changing our perspective again: - Byron Katie's The Work can be used to examine our thoughts. - We can use a method like stream of consciousness writing to let out some of our resentment. The result can be used to brainstorm next steps towards conflict resolution.
Mental State
Our mental state has a lot of power over how we perceive the outer world and what we focus our attention on. Each state is temporary, even though it can sometimes feel like forever. It helps to recognize the current state without judging ourselves. It has helped us to work on the following elements. Each has its own set of practices, which we’ll explore below: - Awareness: Noticing our state. - Acceptance: Sitting with our state. - Shift: Reclaiming agency over our state. Meditation helps us get more aware of our mental state. The "waking up" that we practice during mindfulness meditation helps us catch patterns and recognize (and control) our state more easily over time. Not trying to change our current state and instead sitting with the feeling in presence can lead to a big change in how much power we assert to it. Fully accepting and being with our state leads to transmutation. We can use tools to shift our attention away from our current state. However, it's important to recognize it before and not trying to suppress it. - Laughing, e.g. watching something
Visualization
Visualization means seeing something in our inner eye, although it doesn't necessarily need to be a mental image. Each of our senses can potentially visualize, both individually as well as together. In light work practices, visualization is used to envision something that has not manifested in the material realm yet.
Intention
An intention is the motivation behind an action. Doing something with intention means being more present while doing it. In light work practices, the practice of setting an intention is also often used.
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, word, or phrase that is repeated over and over through humming, speaking, chanting, or singing. There are different ways to work with a mantra: - Many spiritual lineages work with mantras that come from long traditions and carry a lot of meaning in them. See examples below. - You can also craft your own mantra by choosing an affirmation that you would like to focus your mind on. "The word 'mantra' means 'mind-protecting.' A mantra is something that protects the mind from itself, really, by giving it some fodder other than the thinking process." – Ram Dass in Paths to God "As you chant, start to surrender into it, start to offer up all of your other thoughts as sacrifice into it." – Ram Dass in Paths to God - Om Mani Padme Hum - Om Ami Dewa Hrih
Upper Limit Problem
The Upper Limit Problem describes the tendency to unconsciously sabotage ourselves when we surpass a familiar level of success, happiness, or love. Rooted in internalized beliefs and fears, it limits our capacity to grow, like an internal ceiling. Overcoming it means expanding our ability to receive and sustain well-being without self-sabotage. The term Upper Limit Problem was coined by psychologist and author Gay Hendricks in his book The Big Leap. - Impostor syndrome - Fear of outshining As above so below: just as individuals hit an inner ceiling on how much joy, success, or peace they allow, collectives (and the human organism as a whole) can unconsciously limit how much well-being or transformation they believe is possible. When systemic breakthroughs arise toward justice, healing, or liberation, they often meet resistance not just from external forces, but from within the collective psyche. This may show up as backlash, polarization, or a retreat into the familiar. Recognizing the collective Upper Limit Problem invites us to ask: What are we afraid of when things get better? And how can we expand our shared capacity to hold more possibility, not just individually, but together?
The Magician
The Magician is the creator. They know how to transform energy and turn something that has previously existed only in their imagination into a material manifestation. They know that attention is power and don't waste time complaining about situations. Instead, they take a look at the matter at hand, identify possibilities, and get to work. They are a light worker.
Repair
Repair is the process of rebuilding and deepening trust after rupture has happened. It can involve: - Holding space for the pain - Building compassion for each other and the situation - Apologizing with sincerity - Suggesting ways how to handle situations like this in the future In conflict, we can both work on our individual healing, but without repair our bond isn't strengthened. There is not always capacity for repair, and that's okay. However, how repair was done in past situations is a key factor in how safe we feel in showing ourselves vulnerable now. A commitment to repair not only involves taking responsibility for the pain our behavior has caused. It is also necessary to bring up situations where we were hurt by others, even if we fear feeling rejected and invalidated. - Have my requests for repair been valued and taken seriously?
Holding Space
Holding space means being present when someone shares their inner world with us. Energy and emotions that someone has been holding onto can be released when they're being witnessed by others. When we're in the role of the space holder, it's important to ask ourselves if we have the capacity for raw emotional sharing at this moment. Our mental state strongly affects our boundaries and capacity to witness others in a non-judgmental way. With practice, we can offer a container that leads to direct transmutation without us taking in too much ourselves. If we end up soaking in some heavy emotions, it is recommended to do something grounding after the listening.
Grounding
Grounding means connecting more with the present moment, yourself and the Earth. Especially after drawing in a lot of external energy and emotions, it is important to find an outlet. Otherwise, it could lead to involuntary discharge or an inflated ego. - Creation - Movement, fitness, stretching, dance - Taking a shower (a cold shower can have an even greater effect) - Acupressure like Shakti Mat - Various types of grounding meditation - Spending time in nature - Physical touch and co-regulation
Future
How much time do we spend thinking about the future, how much of it is based on fear and anxiety, how much of it is based on hope? Do we spend most of our time visualizing a future we don't want, instead of one that's worth working towards? What future do I want to live in and what are the steps that take me there? In my ideal future, how do humans interact with each other? How can I embody this today? Here are a few light work methods to help imagine a better future: - Affirmations and future journaling - Utopianism "I know that we are co-creating the future with each word, each action, and with our attention." – adrienne maree brown in We Will Not Cancel Us "There are a million paths into the future, and many of them can be transformative for the whole."
Patterns
According to estimates, we make at least 90% of our daily decisions unconsciously. This often leads us to repeat patterns we learned at some point (often in childhood). Shadow Work is a practice focused on bringing unconscious patterns into awareness. Breaking these patterns is also referred to as breaking the cycle. Seeing our own patterns can lead to us seeing more patterns in others as well. When this starts to happen more, it can be quite overwhelming. It's OK to see patterns of others. The question is how much we take them personally. When we don't enmesh ourselves in patterns of others and also recognize that we bring our own projections and assumptions, seeing more patterns leads to more compassion instead of frustration. Seeing patterns is only a burden if you take them seriously. The following methods and exercises can help in recognizing patterns: - Written methods, e.g. journaling - Visual methods, e.g. drawing a timeline
Consciousness Clouds
The collective human organism consists of a lot of smaller networks of group consciousness. The term Consciousness Clouds helps us become aware of the environment we're currently in and how it affects us. The atmosphere, mental state, worldview, and language differs depending on where we are and who we're with. In different groups and contexts, we take on (and get assigned) different roles. At social gatherings, it can even sometimes feel like entering different clouds of consciousness when walking around and interacting with people. Without proper boundaries, it can be easy to lose ourselves in the cloud we're currently in. We're so enmeshed with the group we're in and the role we play there, that we lose track of the bigger picture of who we are.
Relationship Anarchy
The term Relationship Anarchy (RA) was coined by Andie Nordgren in an article called The short instructional manifesto for relationship anarchy. Relationship Anarchy is understood as a philosophy that applies anarchist principles to relationships, which means: - Questioning normativities and rigid relationship categories by defining each relationship through mutual communication. - Recognizing and working on dismantling structual power dynamics that affect the individual relationship (as above so below). Visualization: How do you envision our relationship to look like in the future? What is currently holding us back to live that reality? Calling yourself Relationship Anarchist can be a bit daunting, because people often understand it was being free of any societal rules of expectations. This is why we sometimes use the term Relationship Anarchism instead, which recognizes this philosophy as a process, not a goal.
Disclosure Pause
The Disclosure Pause is the moment you have to make a decision about how much you are willing to share about yourself in a conversation. It's a juicy, liminal space, often only a split-second where we decide how vulnerable, personal, and deep we want to go. Someone asks you about your plans for tonight, how your weekend was, what your tattoo means. Will the answer be just a vague "oh, nothing much" or a personal story that could feel vulnerable, but also open the door to more connection? Especially for people who have been holding back sharing their inner world because of fear of rejection, practicing awareness of these moments and decisions can be very helpful.
Transitions
Moving between activies and meetings in a fast way can lead to carrying over a lot of things. We may think about a task we just finished right before the meeting we currently have, or we may already think about the next meeting when ending the current one. Mindless transition between activities leads to less presence, less being aware of what we want and need right now. It is helpful to do grounding exercises (like meditation) while transitioning between tasks or meetings. To get back within ourselves, calm down a bit, breathe, before we move on to the next thing. This is really important for people who tend to lose themselves in outside energies. Adding proper transitions allows us to always return to a calm center and listen to our intuition. It can also be helpful to have low dopamine periods in times of transition. To not look at our phone and immerse ourselves in externalities right away. We're less affected by these energies when we confront ourselves with them from a calm, centered space.
Anchoring
Anchoring can be a practice, tool or ritual that can bring us into a specific state. This can be helpful when transitioning between activities. For example, es specific scent, drink, mudra or meditation can be used to get us into a productive mindset before starting a task.
Fluidity
We often make our lives difficult by turning things into very big decisions and by thinking we should then stick to those decisions after they've been made. This can be especially challenging for people going through identity changes, who are maybe questioning their sexuality and gender. It can happen that we overthink this so much and think the "decision" is tied to a lot of very specific actions ("if I'm trans, does this mean I need to change my name?"), that it can just feel like too much–in the end trapping us again in binaries that we want to break free from. Fluidity allows us to stay present and take these big decisions a bit less seriously. We can experiment without thinking that anything we like or try out today is set in stone. We can just exist and listen to what feels right right now instead of what we think we should want and should be based on some categories.
Near Enemy
"In Buddhist philosophy, there is a concept called the “near enemy.” It describes something that closely resembles a virtue, but subtly distorts it. Unlike the “far enemy,” which is easy to spot—cruelty versus compassion, despair versus joy—the near enemy is deceptive. It feels almost like the real thing." – Care in The Question Underneath "Control is often the near enemy of connection. It can look like attentiveness, like devotion, like being deeply invested. But underneath, it is not rooted in love. It is rooted in fear. It is the attempt to secure safety by managing outcomes, by anticipating harm, by tightening your grip on uncertainty." – Care in The Question Underneath
Othering
Othering means focusing on our differences instead of what connects us. Instead of seeing the whole of humanity as an organism with the potential to collaborate with each other, it draws artificial lines between us and them. Othering is the near enemy of belonging. By defining some people as outsiders, we can feel connected the group of insiders. The human need for a sense of belonging to a larger group is often weaponized by propaganda. - Any type of discrimination - A focus on the nuclear family instead of the greater collective and community - Love stories based on "us against the rest of the world" - Finding a common enemy to bring together a group of people
Transmutation
Transmutation describes the process of transforming how we feel by letting our emotions flow. How can we transmute energy that's moving through the organism? We have a choice how we react on others' energy. Do we carry it with us, being angry at something they said or a certain look they gave us? Do we attribute "good" or "bad" intention to it? Assuming innocence can be a powerful way for instant transmutation. Giving people the benefit of the doubt is also to the benefit of ourselves and to the whole collective. Potential harmful energy evaporates if we decide not to carry it with us. It gets transmuted without us having to take it in and transmute it through our bodies.
Trust
A culture of building and deepening trust is a culture where repair is taken seriously. Trust as a daily practice: - Trust people (Pygmalion Effect) - Reward people for their trust in you "If you trust the people, they become trustworthy." – adrienne maree brown in Emergent Strategy "Move at the speed of trust. Focus on critical connections more than critical mass–build the resilience by building the relationships." – adrienne maree brown in Emergent Strategy
Accountability
Accountability means taking responsibility for the impact our actions have on others and our environment as a whole. It is the practice of being present with the consequences of our choices. It’s not about blame or punishment, but about recognizing with compassion when our conscious and unconscious behavior has caused harm. And then doing the work to reflect and repair, with the intention of rebuilding trust. "Accountability is an act of (self-) love, a commitment to choose relationship over righteousness, courage over comfort." – Care in We Can't Be Abolitionist & Conflict Avoidant
Safe(r) Space
A Safe Space is a space where the goal is for people to feel safe, respected, and free from fear of violence or judgment. It provides a protected environment that fosters openness, vulnerability, and mutual understanding. It is also often referred to as a Safer Space to emphasize that no space is completely free from violence and discrimination–and to show the intention to make the space progressively safer over time. See also: Brave(r) Space The safer we feel in a space, the freer and more vulnerable we can be there. For us, conflicts usually show how safe we feel in a space: when harm occurs, we strive for all involved to take responsibility, learn from the situation, and find ways to interact with more understanding and compassion in the future. If this does not happen, if conflicts are swept under the rug, it can result in the space feeling less safe. We share less of what’s going on inside us because we fear further hurt. For us, there are three ways to handle such situations: - Conflict Resolution: The attempt to repair, resolve conflicts, and create a space where all involved feel safer again. - Adaptation: If this doesn’t work (e.g., because involved parties are unwilling to engage in conflict resolution at the moment), we need to adjust our behavior. We show ourselves less freely and vulnerably to prevent hurt. - Distance: We decide whether to continue staying in a space or if we would have to adapt so much that it makes more sense to keep our distance for the time being.
Resentment
Resentment makes us see people with less loving eyes, it leads to the Golem effect. By choosing to address a conflict instead of sweeping it under the rug, I can take responsibility to prevent resentment from building up over time. "I delayed truth until it hardened into resentment because resentment felt safer than vulnerability. Resentment preserves power without risking rejection." – Care in Avoiding boundaries is not kindness "When internal boundaries are weak or absent, resentment becomes the substitute. And resentment is dangerous because it disguises itself as moral clarity while actually being deferred responsibility. It says, you should have known, when the truth is, I didn’t say." – Care in Avoiding boundaries is not kindness "For me, resentment is often closer to jealousy than to anger. It sounds like: “Well, I didn’t say anything when you did X last fall.” What I’m really saying is: I cannot hold your boundary because I cannot hold or speak my own." – Care in Avoiding boundaries is not kindness
Boundaries
The term boundaries comes with some baggage because learning to set healthy ones is a difficult process. Until we're getting good at it, there is also the risk to use them as a way to evade responsibility and the vulnerability that comes with conflicts. "_The truth is: I struggle with boundaries a lot because I struggle with intimacy." – Care in Avoiding boundaries is not kindness "When internal boundaries are weak or absent, resentment becomes the substitute. And resentment is dangerous because it disguises itself as moral clarity while actually being deferred responsibility. It says, you should have known, when the truth is,_ I didn’t say." – Care in Avoiding boundaries is not kindness <Image src="/img/2024-04-19-energetic-boundaries.jpg" width="1280" height="1032" size="large"
Community
How can we make sure that living in community doesn't just stay a romanticized dream or a generic term? How do we want to live together in the future? What are the steps we can take to get there? We believe that community needs a strong foundation of †rust that can only be built over time and through conflict resolution. When talking about community and group dynamics, we sometimes forget that a group consists of many individual connections. Both individual connections as well as the group as a whole need to be nurtured.
Propaganda
Tools of propaganda: - Othering, us vs. them - Dehumanization - Poisoning of terms and slogans "The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human" – Aldous Huxley
Bow
"Dōgen, the great Zen master, once said that when you bow, the entire universe bows with you." – Damien Echols in What is the Great Work?
Ritual Design
- Opening the container - Transitions between elements - Closing the container Ideas: - Light a candle - Bow - Start with three deep breaths or a meditation - Find a way to relax and warm up, e.g. through movement, laughing together - Set an intention for the session. Potential visualization prompt: "How do I want to leave this session today?" Take into account the current emotional depth, don't jump too much. On which emotional level are we right now?
Love
"The word 'love' is most often defined as a noun, yet all the more astute theorists of love acknowledge that we would all love better if we used it as a verb." – bell hooks in All About Love "To begin by always thinking of love as an action rather than a feeling is one way in which anyone using the word in this manner automatically assumes accountability and responsibility." – bell hooks in All About Love
Cancel Culture
We've dismissed the term cancel culture for a long time because we saw it mainly as a way for people who are confronted with making a mistake to evade accountability. What’s often forgotten is that the roots of this practice lie in Black liberation movements, where calling out harmful behavior publicly became a vital way to seek justice outside of systems that fail to protect marginalized communities. Over time, however, the term has been co-opted and repurposed—often by those in power—to deflect criticism. Rather than taking responsibility for the harm that was caused, people often focus on how the injustice is communicated. This shifts the attention away from the root of the issue. We believe it's crucial to listen to people experiencing violence and injustice, no matter how it is delivered. There should always be space for righteous anger. However, recently, we started reflecting on our own behavior, how punishment is ingrained in our culture and how this leads to judgment and finger pointing in cases where more effective conflict resolution could be possible. When we focus too much on outer spheres and neglect the necessary inner work, this can lead to externalization and cancel culture.
Responsibility
To us, taking responsibility means recognizing which aspects of life we can truly influence and control. It's a practice of inner alignment and sovereignty. It also means leaving space for other people to take responsibility for their own choices and behaviors. We're realizing more and more that we can't make others act a certain way. We can't control anyone, and we shouldn't want to. Through shadow work, we learn how our unconscious patterns ripple into the collective. Taking responsibility then means practicing accountability when we're confronted with harm we may have caused.
Spheres of Responsibility
Spheres of Responsibility is a framework for understanding the different layers of life where we hold responsibility, and how these layers connect and expand outward from the self. Alternative names: Inner Work, Core Taking responsibility in this sphere means becoming conscious of how our inner world has effects on how we show up in the outer world.
Brave(r) Space
In a Brave Space or Braver Space, people from different backgrounds and with different distributions of privilege come together, acknowledging the tension points that their differing experiences and perspectives might come with. Building a mix of Safer Spaces and Braver Spaces is an important part of organizing.
Conflict Avoidance
Conflict avoidance means having (conscious and unconscious) strategies to evade conflict resolution and the vulnerability that comes with it. Too often, we are outsourcing our conflict resolution to hierarchies.
Alchemy
Transmutation Solve et coagula "The basic formula for profound alchemical change is solve et coagula, which means: to first utterly dissolve (solve) an existing form and then to carefully bring the dissolved and purified elements together again (coagula) in a whole new, more potent and finely organized, permutation."
Collective Liberation in this Lifetime
Collective Liberation in this lifetime is possible. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, activated when enough of us dare to believe and are willing to take responsibility for our share of the work. Collective Liberation in this Lifetime is an affirmation that stretches our shared imagination.
Golem Effect
The Golem Effect says that negative projection can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we mistrust other people and assume bad intent, this has an effect on how they react towards us. Opposite: Pygmalion Effect When we realize we go into Golem mode, it's good to recognize it without judging ourselves. This is just a reflection of our current internal state. Usually, it helps going into solitude and being present with what comes up. Later, we can then shift our attention using gratitude journaling.
Pygmalion Effect
The Pygmalion Effect says that trust can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we assume good intent and see people with loving eyes, we also get more positive reactions in return. By taking responsibility for our inner state and how we see others, we change how the world interacts with us. ✨ Trust is magic ✨ Opposite: Golem Effect "If you trust the people, they become trustworthy." – adrienne maree brown in Emergent Strategy
Finger Pointing
Why does society so often focus more on the people pointing out problems than on the problems themselves? We want to take responsibility in the following ways: - Separate the problem from how it is communicated: The problem exists, even if the way it is pointed out feels uncomfortable to us at that moment. We wish for affected people to be listened to and for the recognition that, due to their pain, they may not always be in a state to name problems perfectly nonviolently and without anger. We acknowledge that “perfect wording” is emotional labor, which we should not additionally burden people more affected by violence to carry. - Question our own authoritarian behaviors: In our society, there is often a focus on the question of who is at fault, who is to blame. This can lead people to enter a protective mode out of fear of punishment and perceive the expression of emotions as a personal attack or accusation. At the same time, we have ourselves been socialized authoritatively and want to observe this in our own communication. When we have the capacity, we can work on processing our anger and the underlying pain elsewhere to communicate problems more effectively.
Lightning Rod
How can we move sensitively and open heartedly through a world where violence is often normalized? The many tensions present in the human organism are often absorbed by sensitive people. This can show up as many small stings that add up and eventually lead to too much pain and overstimulation, for example through: - Unaddressed conflicts - (Passive) aggression - Acceptance of violent structures
Collective Liberation
"Nobody's free until everybody's free." – Fannie Lou Hamer The term collective liberation describes the notion that everyone suffers under oppressive structures. Contributing to liberation means taking responsibility in different areas of life. For example, it is important to find the right balance in the type of work: - Shadow Work: Actively work on recognizing and dismantling oppressive power structures. - Light Work: Actively work on building a world based on mutual trust and care. "Nobody's free until everybody's free." – Fannie Lou Hamer "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
Anger
We understand anger as an emotion that reveals underlying feelings such as pain and grief. Anger shows us that something is wrong, that we feel unseen, misunderstood, or powerless. It can also be a productive emotion, an "enough is enough" that empowers us to stand up and speak out. Anger can also lead to striking back, to more violence affecting the human organism. We strive to avoid directing our anger at individuals, and instead focus it against violent societal structures. Writing techniques like journaling and stream of consciousness writing can help with anger in various ways: - Release: It can be helpful to just let our angry voices out–without judging ourselves for them. After writing everything down, tearing up the paper can serve as an additional symbolic act of release, as explained in this post: - Need: We have found it immensely helpful to connect to the underlying need beneath the anger. Verbalizing this need has often even caused the anger to vanish at that moment, transforming into compassion. Prompt: What is the underlying need behind this emotion? - Gratitude: Gratitude journaling is a powerful tool for shifting the attention away from anger. To avoid suppressing the emotion, we recommend practicing gratitude after a first release. Being present with anger–really sitting with the emotion and giving it attention–can be a powerful act of transmutation. Where do I feel it? What thoughts are arising? By becoming curious about the emotion, we take it less personally and begin to see it from a higher vantage point.
Attachment
Attachment means trying to control things the way they currently are (or our idea of how they should be). The practice of non-attachment means gradually letting go of desire, expectations, and idealization. "Attachment is essentially a refusal to come to terms with change, it’s an attempt to keep things the same or under your power." – Yung Pueblo in What Love Isn't
Gaza Genocide
While the word genocide was largely being suppressed by Western media until 2025, a growing number of genocide scholars and human rights experts are getting increasingly clear: - The International Association of Genocide Scholars declared that "Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide." - United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese calls Israel a settler-colonial project and highlights corporations who "have profited from Israel’s economy of illegal occupation, apartheid and now, genocide." - Amnesty International concludes "Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza." - Human Rights Watch published a report in December 2024 titled "Extermination and Acts of Genocide." - Omer Bartov, professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University, wrote a piece in NYT called I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.: "My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could. But I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one." Israeli military officials told the New York Times that there is no proof that Hamas has been systematically stealing aid that was supposed to go to the people in Gaza. "It's not our fault. Hamas is stealing the food" is a lie that has been used heavily over the last 2 years to justify Israel's deliberate starvation of Palestinians.
Jealousy
Jealousy can have a profound effect on how we see ourselves and others. It often causes heightened insecurities which can lead to negative projection and the Golem Effect. It can really feel like a demon sometimes, taking over control and shifting the state of consciousness. While jealousy can be a very challenging emotion, we shouldn't blame ourselves for experiencing it. We can take responsibility for how we deal with it, know that it's a learning process, and increase †rust and connection along the way. When alone and feeling jealous, gratitude journaling can be used to shift the attention away from negative projection and practice the Pygmalion Effect. At that moment, we don't have control over what's happening outside, so we can only take responsibility for what's happening inside us. The gratitude could be directed at what we have in our own life (appreciating what we have can lead to feeling less dependent on other people), at our partners (maybe even at them having a good time), and other people involved. Here is also a post with different coping strategies when feeling jealous: When getting back together after moments of jealousy, we're currently experimenting with rituals for (re)connection. These involve meditating together before doing a deep listening session. The goal is to have a container where everyone can securely share what has been coming up. <Image src="/img/2023-08-09-jealousy.jpg" width="1280"
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
A self-fulfilling prophecy describes the effect that a prediction or expectation can cause a person to adjust their behavior, which then leads to the prediction to become reality. - Pygmalion Effect and Golem Effect