| Say to yourself, ‘I’m here on purpose, I can accomplish anything I desire, and I do it by being in harmony with the all-pervading creative force in the universe. ~Wayne Dyer~ |
After all, he has been released on bail after 10 weeks of being detained at an undisclosed location on the condition that he not speak of the who's, what's, where's, when's, why's and how's of his kidnapping. There was some talk of unpaid taxes, but we all know how easy it is for any government to doctor tax records -or anything else for that matter- when looking for justification to silence dissidents.
In Our Creative Nests, I use Ai Weiwei as an example of how the human spirit often flourishes under pressure. What shall I say of him now? Described as, "only a distant echo of his usually bombastic self", can we assume that his creative spirit has succumbed to his oppressors during the mystery of his abduction? We can assume that he's damn glad to be home, and whatever the heck the giant "THEY" did to him, or threatened or tortured him with has been a great tonic for subduing the creative spirit. But I rather like to think of it as a sleeping pill for the creative animal that is curled up and healing now. May we see that animal stretch and rise again with care, and give great love and support for Ai Weiwei as he becomes comfortable with his recently silenced voice again.
So why am I writing to you about this? Why bother reporting the release of a silenced creative powerhouse? I'm writing to ask who you think is responsible for speaking out against oppression? Is it the job of courageous artists like Ai Weiwei? Or is it the sole task of women like Rumana Monzur who was just viciously attacked and blinded by her husband? He gouged her eyes out and bit off half of her nose because she dared to be successful. Or maybe speaking up about oppression and violations of human rights and freedoms is the job of marginalized gay teens or movie stars confessing their addictions?
Does this all sound a bit absurd? Does it seem like perhaps, just maybe, just an eensy weensy teensy bit, that we sit back in our Adirondack chairs and kinda take for granted that the rest of the world is just able to hang out on the weekends and relax? Perhaps all of those people in Syria and Libya and Tunisia get a break from the hell they've been enduring on the weekends and get together for pool parties and community yard sales? You know, just to "get away from it all".
We owe it to ourselves and the rest of the world to get a little more involved with what's going on. We owe it to ourselves and the rest of the world to be more discerning in our consumerism and politics. Even if it simply starts at home. Not just watching the news, but questioning it. What do you mean the Canadian government, when asked for documentation about whether our soldiers knowingly handed over Afghan prisoners to torture, blacked out much of the information? How come? Why? If this happened, how did it affect our soldiers who were ordered to carry out these actions?
We are blessed to live where we do. Blessed with our freedom and cursed with complacent apathy. We have come to expect our freedom, soothed by the hand of "THEY", and guided without our knowing into a sugared silence. It's time to sit up and pay attention.
As I was hinting at in Our Creative Nests, we owe it to ourselves to let our creative self out of the stall and run for it's life. Write a letter, paint like it's your last chance, sing, dance, sculpt, let your humanity be exalted so the rest of the world might be freed.
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