I think of Life and people with these ideas in mind: mythological Calling - biological birth - psychological birth - the Experience of being alive - biological death - psychological remains. Each complex cycle of this human project is full of discovery, expression, connection and meaning, especially during childhood when emotions absorb and record every experience. These core experiences characterize every element of one's personal life which then interacts with the otherness of life and creates Potential, Relationship, Experience and Perception. All these individualized variations of this emotional human project - to have, to feel, to act, to love, to speak and be heard, to see and to know - begin during childhood. In this way the generational oats we sow - i.e., the images, energies and emotions of children - symbolize the health of families, communities, nations and all the Earth.
That being so, it is no longer possible for me to ignore how too many of the OATS we sow - Oppression, Addiction, Trauma and Shame - are negatively affecting the behaviors and emotions of "Being Human." We know this negative affect is happening because we can see (if we learn how to name) and sense (if we still trust our instincts) the fear around us and within us. After all, we live in a society of multi-leveled violence and this emotional state has, unfortunately, become the biggest influencing factor and most consistent personal response. For example, the interior lives of too many are formed on barely "having" enough to get by; too many are merely medicating how they "feel;" too many believe punishment is the only "act" that gets results; billions believe "love" is about getting and doing instead of giving and being; billions more refuse to "speak" because they are convinced they won't be "heard" or fear they will; all of us are taught to judge and compete with who and what we "see" instead of understanding the interdependence of it all; and lots of us "know" years of formal and impressive information but are deeply ignorant of ourselves and the impact we are having on all of our exterior Relationships. These fears result in personalized forms of withdrawal, manipulation, rebellion and shoulder-shrugging compliance.
Such a state of affairs then creates an environment where too many wide-eyed children are vicariously living through media and technology, desensitized by sexual violence, their brains stimulated by flash-second imagery and instant access, their attempts at fulfillment conformed to pointless consumption and their imaginations disengaged from kinesthetic activity. In effect, emotionally unhealthy children are now somewhat invisible because they are the accepted norm in society. I say "somewhat invisible" because their purposeful behaviors are attempts to be seen. As a society, however, we continue to "treat" the "symptoms" of unhealthy children (because there's a lot of money to be made) but we have yet to really see the new norm or name it for what it really is - the consequence of Oppression, Addiction, Trauma and Shame.
Meanwhile, the always purposeful behaviors continue: obesity, bulimia and anorexia, attention deficit, hyperactivity, violence, promiscuity, loss of self-respect, "what's in it for me" attitudes, carelessness for the future, self-destructive devotions, emotional desperation, a general disdain for responsibility and an attraction to the anonymous and easily vicious behaviors afforded by group identity. And yet it almost never fails that whenever the subject of "kids these days" comes up most grown-ups (as opposed to adults) absolve themselves of any responsibility for the situation. They simply think and actually believe the solution is sowing more effective Oppression, causing more Trauma ("as long as you do it with love") and creating more Shame. But dehumanizing individuals into submissive objects whose sole purpose then becomes avoiding the soul's purpose is at the core of what causes the various forms of Addiction, no matter whether the narcotic is alcohol, medication, the media, anarchy, political power or religious ideology!! It's all wrong and it's all disastrous to the Relationships within us and around us. The OATS we sow, these "four horsemen" - Oppression, Addiction, Trauma and Shame - have always and everywhere been the problem, not the solution.
The solution is rooted in concepts of shared humanity - interdependence - throughout the generations (i.e., the physiological, psychological, social, mental, emotional and spiritual health of self and others). In effect, "we don't so much build communities as we are already built into them. Just by being here in the world our life is with others [and otherness]." (Hillman) At this critical point in our shared story the Earth is demanding that we commit ourselves - as individuals, families, communities, nations and the Earth's consciousness - to raising fully awake and emotionally healthy human beings. Of course, to begin this task we need to Change how we "have, feel, act, love, speak and hear, see and know." Then and only then will we begin to create the emotional health necessary to stop the practice of razing children.
