THE SERPENT AND THE DOVE
BOTH/ AND is a game changer.
Having grown up in an EITHER/OR world view, where you have to be “this or that” you are “good or bad”, “pretty or ugly” “smart or dumb” “with us or against us” the idea of BOTH/AND had never been presented as an option.
In a state of chronic stress or trauma individually or collectively we are thrown into this brain state. My mentor calls it “black and white brain” where we feel polarized, in threat, as if there are only two options.
When we are in a more calm and regulated state, we are able to access what she calls “Rainbow Brain” a state of more creativity, possibilities, options, interconnectivity, integration and synthesis.
I can’t fully express the difference in my life once I started inhabiting this new world. The relaxation it offered to my body mind to be allowed to as Walt Whitman puts it, to “contain multitudes” and to contain contradictions. When we recognize as humans that we (and life) will always grapple with dialectics, “I want to AND I don’t want to” “I love you AND you can really frustrate me at times” “I am kind and patient AND I can be irritable and impatient” we relax the fight within ourselves. We make space, we may even be able to let these two parts connect, communicate, and work together. WE make PEACE.
As we honor one of our great Peace Makers this time of year, I pulled out my copy of “The Strength to Love” and have been reflecting on Dr. Kings words, his explication of a teaching from the Bible where we see this same concept at play.
Rather than forcing ourselves artificially (individually OR collectively) to be ONE thing, in the words of Dr. King:
“Life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony.”
“We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.”
“To have serpent-like qualities devoid of dove-like qualities is to be passionless, mean, and selfish. To have dove-like without serpent-like qualities is to be sentimental, anemic and aimless. We must combine strongly marked antithesis.”
Perhaps the very things we revile can be brought into fruitful harmony through this process. The dangers of the serpent, when tempered by the tenderness of the dove creates strength and depth informed by wisdom.
This is a time for synthesis of opposites, personally and collectively. For CREATIVE and TRANSFORMATIVE synthesis. Even if we want this on some level, it often brings up fear. (I want this AND I'm scared). We are wired to hold on to our positions, our realities, we are wired to try to keep things the same and fight change…yet we are also wired to seek change, novelty, to adjust and adapt, to create the new.
In fact each one of us, YOU are a synthesis of opposites. Life begins through an integration of difference, two forces coming together across barriers, drawn to the other polarity, uniting, transforming and creating something unique, fresh, new. This is life itself.
In this time of heightened polarity in our country, when crisis arrives, we are presented with this scary yet potent opportunity. To search within ourselves to ignite and support this creative process. Where are their divisions within me? Where am I caught in polarities? How can I support communication and collaboration between these parts? What would a synthesis of opposites looks like? How can I make peace within myself and then how do we carry this forward on a collective level, out into the world? How do I create opportunities for transformation?