s the most unusual Canada in our generation passes in the shadow of covid measures, I find myself reflecting on unity as a Point of Light this week. Unity is a powerful word, more powerful when it is set our in thoughtful heartfelt action, and even more so when it’s imbedded in how our institutions, power structures and polices are created. When we live with unity as a forward goal, a driver of all actions we inherently design democracy and equality, every community, and those within it will be stronger. In principle, people would all agree it’s a higher goal, an inherent requirement in addressing all the ISM’s that seek to divide us. But what does it actually mean? What does it require if us? And why is it seemingly so hard to achieve? Unity, is defined in the most simple terms as the state of being united or joined in whole. The path to achieving it is anything but simple. Unity requires us to live with others in our hearts, to consider the impact of our actions on others, to find ways to move in synchronicity even when we may not fully agree because is the best thing for the whole. When humans were hunters and gatherers moving together and working as one was totally intuitive and required for survival. As we evolved through industrialization and to the digital age, forces began to divide and separate us, most often along, racial, socioeconomic and religious lines. The divisions have gotten wider, our differences are being used as a catalyst for conflict, breeding fear that is culminating in violent clashes, deep inequality, fear and loathing. Discord and division has been designed over decades, by power structures who have built a path for the benefit of a small segment of citizens to benefit at the peril of the majority. This begs the question, can we find unity under the weight of such pervasive, deeply wired, systematic division? The answer is a complicated yes, of course we can...we have to. The path to get there is of course riddled with complexity and most often governed by those who cling to the status quo, thankfully, though, they are out numbered. Now more than ever there seems to be an awakening emerging. Citizens are becoming more informed, waking up, questioning their leadership, structures, policies, the lines they’ve been fed, the paternalism, the structures, the gaps in history taught in schools. All of it, is being scrutinized, much of it reflecting the emergence of the Black Lives Matters and Truth and Reconciliation Commission focusing on Indigenous racism that has been part of Canada’s heritage since first contact. I believe that our differences make us stronger, that humanity thrives when we create spaces to celebrate and share a spectrum of beliefs, practices, approaches and lived experience. I believe that we need to face our biases, the conscious and unconscious ones, the personal and institutional ones, we can can learn and do better. We need dialogue, we need reconciliation, we need a redistribution of wealth and power and we need to be guided by a moral compass and a relentless force of optimism committed to humanity. We need all of us to believe the long held truth, that as long as one is marginalized none of us our free. Humans are interdependent, we need each other. We are inherently dependent on everything around us, we know this innately, we just need to remind each other and be relentless in our pursuit of unity. The rewards are limitless when we make love, unity, shared prosperity and wellbeing our holy grail; good flows from good, it is a universal truth. The beauty of unity is that we are the navigators, we design the destination, choose the journey and the vehicles to get there, no one else. If we unite in building unity, we can, just as those who designed division, recreate all aspects of society and wipe away the counter intuitive design we have all been forced to exist to one where we all flourish, progress, benefit in unity and love. Peggy Taillon President and Founder HERA Mission 613-769-5499 Heramission.org @heramission ReplyReply AllForwardEdit as new
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