Today, 10 Aj invites us to stand in our power with strength and humility, recognize that leadership comes from service to family and community, and understand that dignity is the foundation upon which all meaningful connection and manifestation rests.
Essential Questions
- How do I lead with dignity and grace in my home and community?
- What does it mean to be a pillar of strength without dominating?
- Where am I called to empower others through my presence?
“You can’t talk to victims, because no matter what, they’re right, and therefore, their own cruel behavior is always justified.” ~Kaylie Jones, Lies My Mother Never Told Me
Trauma has become an overused buzzword. Is it human nature to be traumatized? Victimized? Or is that just cultural conditioning and a weak excuse for self-pity and despondence?
Trauma is real and relative. There are major traumas that come from wars, natural disasters, major accidents, serious illnesses, sudden deaths, and abusive relationships. There is chronic, mid-to-low-grade trauma, and there are minor traumas. There are traumas we can process and heal, and others that we never “get over” but learn to live with.
I was traumatized when a tornado hit my elementary school when I was in third grade and I believed I was going to die. I was traumatized by my contentious relationship with my mother beginning in early adolescence. I was traumatized when my baby daughter fell ill and had to be hospitalized for a week.
Yet I don’t think of myself as a victim. I subscribe to the notion that the trials and challenges we face are for our learning, growth, and personal and collective evolution. Even though that can be difficult or impossible to see in the dark night.
The yogic and Mayan teachings help inspire me to stand tall with dignity, strength, balance, and softness. The simple, moment-to-moment practice of lifting my heart and head toward the heart of the sky and feeling my legs and feet connecting to the heart of the earth is a reminder that I am strong, worthy, intelligent, and deserving of respect from myself and others.
May all beings be safe, happy, healthy, and free. May we all feel safe, secure, protected, and a sense of belonging in our homes and communities and out there in the world.
“People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.” ~James Baldwin
Maltiox, Nawal Aj.
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