In last week’s blog I set up a trinity between 3 wise people and some of their ideas, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Kendrick Lamar and Resmaa Menakem. All individually brilliant and whilst working with others inviting change on a global scale.
Whirring
Today I wanted to dig a little deeper into why I hold these three people’s ideas so highly. At this time of gross violence, destruction, continued land theft, wildfires and blame throwing, I wonder about the relevance of this post. Surely there are bigger fish to catch, and then fry? However, I will do my best to make plain the thoughts these three divergent experiences are conjuring for me. What was sent stirring as I watched the movie on Thanksgiving Day in Canada, were a few thoughts about Kendrick’s latest album, Resmaa’s book ‘My Grandmother’s Hands and about the multiple players involved in the creation of the H Bomb.
More
When operating at an individual level we may travel quickly, however we are very much on our own. When travelling with a group the journey may take a long time, however we arrive together. For Oppenheimer’s crew they were able to arrive at a hugely explosive and world changing end. Kendrick shows his development alongside tap, and conversations with Whitney. He is continuously in collaboration with others. In Resmaa’s book, great lengths are taken to explain that our journey has always been communal. I would advise you to look into (link) Communal Consultations Resmaa invites readers of My Grandmother’s Hands to participate in these gatherings. This is to make full use of the information in his book. Other bodies are essential to support learning at a profound level.
Hurt
Dirty Pain is the pain of avoidance, blame, and denial. When people respond from their most wounded parts, become cruel or violent, or physically or emotionally run away, they experience dirty pain. They also create more of it for themselves and others. Resmaa Menakem pg. 20 My Grandmother’s hands.
Marks
I am considering here the pain of trauma. What epigenetically is left in all of our bodies and as a result our psyches. Without understanding, and compassion to support, healing cannot be achieved. I am considering here the many internal and external conflicts we face as a species. What others and Resmaa have shared, is that a hurt people go on to hurt others and invariably themselves. Why, because pain acts as connector too. As Joshua Isaac Smith has stated, trauma shuts down our thinking brain. We become reactive and limited in our understanding of the world around us. Pain gets passed forward as information that is to be attended to.
Nurturing
Experiencing clean pain enables us to engage our integrity and tap into our body’s inherent resilience and coherence, in a way that dirty pain does not. Paradoxically, only by walking into our pain or discomfort – experiencing it, moving through it, and metabolizing it – can we grow. It’s how the human body works. Resmaa Menakem pg. 20 My Grandmother’s hands. Here Resmaa explains the positive although painful aspects of healing. He highlights that the human body is connected to all parts of ourselves moving through awareness at all times.
Rip
With Oppenheimer we were rapidly brought into an awareness of the project of significance that changed our world in irreparable ways. ‘The Manhattan Project’ which I initially thought was a plot line of the 1980s comic book series The Watchmen. Science, quantum mechanics and quantum theory are all brought to a head in the creation of the atomic bomb and later variations of the super atomic bomb. It was at the point of the trial in the film that Resmaa’s idea of Dirty Pain and Clean Pain jumped out at me.
Para
The suggestion by Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr’s character) that ultimate power should be left in the employ of Americans was where the idea of Dirty Pain really took hold. Oppenheimer’s intent was to invite other nations to form an alliance, to limit and control the use of nuclear weapons. For Strauss total power was for America and no-one else to be shared. Least of all the Russians. The point of injury arrived as Strauss was ridiculed in front of others and in paranoia, possibly spoken out against when Oppenheimer spoke with Einstein on the lawn. The assertion Strauss makes is to undermine and discredit Oppenheimer.
Project
I will finish with this: ‘As every therapist will tell you, healing involves discomfort – but so does refusing to heal. And, over time, refusing to heal is always more painful.’ Resmaa Menakem ‘My Grandmothers Hands’ pg. 19. We can look outward to another and project upon them our wants for them to fix up, heal, get better. If they are our reflection, then we would be wiser to attend to what ails us first. With all three men presented above, they each in turn, invite us to observe self first and other in a binary relationship.
Resources
Watchmen Wikipedia I was introduced to the novel at university and thought Rorschach an interesting and complex character. The link takes you to a Wikipedia page discussing this comic book series.
Oppenheimer trailer A short introduction to the 3 hour epic. Highlighting the knife edge decision made to end the 2nd world war by dropping 2 nuclear bombs.
Kendrick – Mr Morale And The Big Steppers review. It is fair to say that this is Kendrick’s finest body of work. In later blogs I will highlight what I was able to take away from this collection of art.
Resmaa Menakem Somatic Abolitionism An introduction to Somatic Abolitionism and the deep work that Resmaa and colleagues are consistently engaged with.
Questlove Supreme and Phonte Interviews Eric Roberson pt 1 This is a huge aside, and I recognise the folly of placing this podcast here. Erro Eric Roberson and Phonte Lyshod Coleman discuss Roberson’s beginnings and how the two came to work together.
Images
Explosion Image Theme
Cover photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
Explosives in Blue photo by Daniel Jensen on Unsplash
Firework photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash
Fireworks Blue photo by Andreas Rasmussen on Unsplash
Michael Forfieh Counselling 