Learning Non-Violence
The Bright Unhidden
This piece holds the truth that sweetness and boldness are not opposites, but allies.
A salmon-hued circle carries dark green nepps beneath the surface—instincts and truths waiting to be trusted. Adorned with a feathered fish fly, a curved stick that breaks symmetry, and hand-stitched waxed leather, the form refuses rigidity. It leans. It listens. It liberates itself.
This work speaks to the moment we stop compressing who we are
and allow our sensitive, fierce nature to take up space without apology.
A devotion to becoming visible to oneself.
Their Blessing:
May you remember that softness and boldness
can live in the same body.
May what has been hidden
feel safe enough to shine.
May you trust your rhythms,
release the habit of shrinking,
and honor the wild intelligence
of who you are becoming.
May nothing essential remain hidden.
May your brightness be a homecoming.
Over these last months, I’ve been thinking a lot about violence. Not only the violence around us, but the energy of it that we can find living within. We are witnessing incredible violence in our country right now—open, brutal, without apology. And today I speak of the violence that turns inward, the kind that takes root inside of us when we live in a culture built on domination.
The long history of violence in this country, and the unvarnished expression of it we are witnessing now, has me reflecting back over the last ten years of my own healing and undoing. For years, I have been consciously untying the knots and daggers of patriarchal oppression and supremacy that run through the fabric that I am. I have been examining my own automatic thoughts about others. And about myself.
My guides have always asked me to start at home. Start within. To look at what is happening in society, and ask:
How do I internalize this?
Where and when do I replicate it?
In February, I wrote about sustainable resistance, and the many ways activism can look. Marching. Donating. Community care. Writing. Speaking. Art. Mutual aid. Interrupting harm. Refusing silence.
This month, I want to offer another layer.
A piece of our activism right now is learning embodied non-violence—inside our own bodies. Because when violence becomes normalized around us, it doesn’t always stay “out there.” It can seep into the way we treat ourselves. The way we push past our limits. The way we shame ourselves for needing rest. The way we perform wellness. The way we abandon our own inner truth to survive. And for many of us, that abandonment began a long time ago.
Many of the systems we live inside of are not built to support us.
They are built for speed.
For performance.
For constant output.
For masking.
For obedience.
This month, I offer the idea of looking within to see if there is truth for you in this.
Inside is where non-violence can begin. Not as a spiritual concept. Not as a political talking point. As a lived practice. When we refuse to treat ourselves the way oppressive systems treat people, that is activism. A commitment to stop replicating domination in the most intimate place we have access to, our own inner world, is the start of building a new culture.
While the world is dismantling, we too are dismantling. Those around us are dismantling. Starting within is work we can do quietly, imperfectly, together. And it matters more than we’ve been taught to believe.
Much love to you and your spirit,
Sara
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