Greetings, fellow monkeys!
The month of April is upon us, a time of rebirth and of renewal. A time of new beginnings.
This is the time of year when the newborn monkeys arrive on our island. Their arrival coincides with the reemergence of spring, of lengthening days and shortening nights. And when something new is emerging, there is that which we refer to as "birthing pains".
Among the new ideas and elements which are in the process of being born, we are currently seeing a redefining of leadership in our society. The united group of monkeys in the west is currently examining candidates for the upcoming election later this year. And as we do so, there are several important factors that are emerging - several belief systems which are being brought to the surface for our examination.
The belief system of authority is intimately involved in the election of new leaders, and thus one would expect beliefs involving authority to be triggered, expressed and examined at such a time. That is what the western monkeys are doing.
As monkeys choose their favorite candidates and take sides, many monkeys are coming to the realization that they are tired of taking sides. They are tired of having to be for one side or the other. They are tired of being told that they need to vote for a particular candidate for this reason or that reason. They are tired of being told that the "other side" is wrong, that their ideas are shortsighted or dangerous.
A growing number of monkeys is coming to the realization that there must be a better way. There must be an alternative to that which we have seen and experienced time and again: polarization, opposition, one side against the other, we're right and you're wrong. Many monkeys are beginning to see the fallacy and shortsightedness of such an approach.
What if no one is actually wrong? What if each person believes what they believe, and that's okay? What if it's really unnecessary to judge or criticize or demonize someone for believing something different from you, for having a different opinion? What would that be like?
Imagine a society in which the beliefs and ideas and opinions of each monkey are respected. One where you can believe what you want to believe without having to defend yourself.
Many groups of monkeys around the island have succeeded in creating societies in which monkeys are free to make choices and speak freely. But we have only just begun to move toward genuine freedom: the freedom to believe that which you choose to believe without being judged or criticized for it.
Elections are valuable for many reasons, among them the fact that we see very clearly where we are still falling short of genuine acceptance. When our political candidates, our so-called "leaders", still resort to judging and criticizing one another for that which they believe, we are seeing ourselves reflected back to us. Our candidates simply express and highlight the same inner judgement that takes place within us.
So as we see our candidates bicker and attack one another's policies and platforms and ideas and intentions, the opportunity is there for us to turn our attention back to ourselves and to look honestly at our own tendency to find fault with those who see or think or feel differently that we do.
Only when we have succeeded individually in respecting differences in opinion and belief will we see candidates who reflect that acceptance back to us.
In the meantime, those of us who are moving in the direction of acceptance can make the most of this upcoming election by supporting whichever candidate shares that desire to place acceptance above judgement, unity above separation, and a bright future above a divided one.
This monkey has spoken!
