A defining moment in European history, the British vote to leave the European Union.
It gives me a similar feeling as on 9/11, although a little less severe on the scale of shock. An overriding feeling of: this world will never be the same again.
All the Brits on my facebook timeline (there are quite a few) express their shock and sadness.
The vote is as near 50-50 as it could get, and looking at the ages of the voters, it’s the in the age group of people over 50 that the ‘leave’ vote has been decided. Younger voters wanted to stay in.
The implications are enormous. The world’s financial markets are giving instant feedback. It is bringing up incredible difficult waters to navigate within Britain, with the prime minister resigning, and absolutely no clarity on any side about what to do next. Unweaving from the EU can take up to 10 years, and there are many many areas to sort out until it is final.
It is also bringing up a lot of upheaval for the rest of Europe. I truly hope we will be able to sail through and keep strong and committed to finding shared solutions.
Because that is what we need - in my opinion, my gut feeling and everything I have. We created problems in our world that need solving. And these need solutions beyond what we know now. The only way to get to them, is to find new ways of working this out together.
As the Dalai Lama shared: it’s time to stop praying, and start finding new ways to have a dialogue. We need solutions.
This is a win for the far right wings of politics. The ‘let’s find the enemy outside of ourselves, blame them, separate ourselves from them - and all will be well’ rhetoric. Separation rhetorics. Sound familiar? It’s on the rise everywhere. Offering a seemingly easy fix for everything that is wrong.
In Holland, we have our own version of Mr. Trump. I find his politics sickening. I feel physically ill when I hear him or read his words. And he has many many followers.
I feel it in every fibre of my being:
Separation is not the answer.
Inclusion is.
But today, I found myself asking the hard question: what am I doing that is contributing to this growing dynamic of separation?
And I realised: I don’t think I know anybody who votes for ‘them’. I am very vocal on my facebook timeline, sharing my ass of with inspiration and hope. But I don’t engage and connect with anybody who has a different view.
Only once did I post a lightly satirical column highlighting something that had happened in Dutch politics. And it got me a remark from one of ‘them’, someone from the other side. An honest remark, no name calling or anything low. But it threw me, made me feel horrible.
I thought about what I could reply for days. But in the end, the easiest thing to do was delete the comment. I am not proud of it. And I think this is just a small example of what is happening on a much broader scale. People avoid having these conversations in a constructive way. It never hit me this hard before how utterly difficult this is.
To build new connections, I have to get out there. Be willing to face what makes me feel sick. And not just to convince ‘them’ of the ‘right’ way to look at this. But to be open and allow myself to be touched as a human being. To be willing to look beyond what my heart & soul tell me is right. To stay true to myself AND be willing to open up for shared growth.
To commit to staying out of judgement and the desire for easy fixes.
This is the only way that we can find new connection. The only way we can open up dialogue that can eventually lead to solving this world’s problems.
The only way to connect across the grand divide that has exposed itselves in our societies.
And quite possibly the only way to avoid the further rise of extremism.
Sometimes I wonder: suppose we were living in 1937. What could we have done differently that would have prevented one of the biggest tragedies of our world’s history?
I think I found a part of my answer today.
To not be part of the ‘silent majority’. Because as much as I might think otherwise - sharing on facebook just does not count. Nor does only talking to people who share my worldview.
And I feel called to explore how I can connect to people who are with ‘them’. How we can create settings where we are all willing to share ourselves as people, and explore how we can move beyond what we know to be true. Beyond what we think defines us as individual human beings.
In the shared interest of creating a better world. It sounds utopian, but my goodness, do we need a better world. And the only way it will get here is if we are willing to let go of easy fixes.
I would honestly love to hear your thoughts. What is your answer? How are you (unintentionally) contributing to what is going on?