Wild Mustang: Lover of Soul and Inviter to the Dance

Racism in Me             The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the responses and protests to those deaths have created an opening unlike any I have seen in my lifetime. Unfortunately, black men and women have been dying at the hands of the police for a long time. The anger and grief have been simmering a while and have now boiled over. This anger and grief do not simply need a release so things can return to normal. They need to push us into the very issues that are causing the anger and grief.             Racism is systemic and pervasive. Though changes in law and police polices will help, these changes do not address depth of racism. Racism has been a part of the fabric of our country since the first settlers came from Europe. The horrendous treatment and destruction of the indigenous people. The discrimination of people based on the color of their skin. The judging of those with darker skin as unworthy. The importing of slaves to grow the economy.

Play Two weeks ago in my blog, I shared pictures I had painted as part of the Contemplative Painting Class at the Retreat House Spirituality Center. I shared 5 paintings with comments. The above painting I did not share. It was the last painting I did in the second class. I didn't really like it. It didn't speak to my spiritual journey, or so I thought. On my way to Gilmont Conference Center for a board meeting, I listened to Brene Brown and the Power of Vulnerability. This is a series of teachings Brene did for Sounds True. In one of her talks Brene Brown talked about the importance of play for wholehearted living. Brene's first response when play came up in her research data was to discount it. Then it was to realize that she didn't know how to play, didn't have time to play, and had too many important things to do rather than play. Brene defined play as " time spent without purpose. " Based on that definition, I realized that I don't kn