Especially for Families – Liberation

What Does it Mean to be a Family of Liberation?

Educator Cosmo Fujiyama, in her TED talk, “Learning as Liberation,” advocates consciously building in “pause-and-get-perspective moments” into one’s life. Coming from a family of avid snow skiers, she calls these “lift moments,” inspired by the ski-lift rides between runs, when she and her dad would look down on the slopes below from high above, reflecting on the run they’d just had before rushing down the slope again. For Fujiyama, these “lift moments” liberate one from the feelings of overwhelm, stuckness, and disengagement, because they allow one to focus instead on the learning, freeing one’s self to think and act differently next time.

Fujiyama asks those of us who are facing a struggle to consider three questions: What am I learning right now, invisibly? What is the gift here? What am I committed to learning? As a people of spirit, we have plenty of struggles, and together, we can learn how to find liberation within them. The secret lies in the “lift moment” – taking a moment to step back from the struggle and putting down the question, “What is there here to fear?” and picking up the question, “What is here to learn?”

When we face fears and confess our shames and misdeeds to a trusted friend or to the Divine, dedicating ourselves to atonement, we learn that we don’t always need to hide our fault and there is space to begin again. When we willingly accept the responsibility to adapt language and practices that promote inclusion rather than harm and oppression, we learn that our liberation is tied up in the liberation of others. When we adopt practices that ground us in the here and now so that we may stay engaged and thoughtful, even when triggered, even when distraction and fear tempt us away, we learn that freedom within is attainable. It’s one of life’s great lessons and gifts: learning always leads to liberation.

With you this month as we learn to better recognize and effect the cool, clear rush of liberation,

Teresa, on behalf of the whole Soul Matters team

Family Activities

Liberated from Convention: Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast-for-Dinner is a concept that both liberates us from getting stuck in what the evening meal is “supposed” to be and frees up a bit more time around the table since breakfast usually entails simple foods prepared quickly.

Eggs or egg replacement and toast with a side of fresh fruit or veg is a quick and easy option. Bagel sliders with your favorite fillings and breakfast burritos both come together quickly, too. What favorite early meal would your family be excited to prepare and eat together at an unexpected time of day?

Use this mealtime toss-up to offer some new suggestions about how household tasks and chores might be shared differently among the family. Who usually pairs the socks out of the clean laundry? Who refills the toilet paper in the bathroom? Who gets the mail? We all get used to things just “getting done,” but the person doing them might appreciate not being tied down, and other folks might like the chance to learn how to do new things.

Liberated from Gravity (Almost!): Flying and Floating

In our Around the Neighborhood section, we used the metaphor of “lift” to find liberation. If that was fun for your family, consider one of these lofty options:

• Fly kites
• Play around with a radio-controlled helicopter
• Make parachutes for tiny dolls and action figures and see who can get the most hang time
• Have a contest to see whose paper airplane can fly the farthest
• Working as a team, try to play “keep it up” with a feather or balloon, using breath or hands