It is no coincidence that I find myself writing on this topic with my 300th post on Steemit! When we decide that we had enough of the violence in our lives, we decided to make some drastic changes. Given that the colonization process has taken over the world, we are now all faced with the process of decolonization, which my wife and I have now realized that we have worked on over the last 15 years.
So what does that process look like?
I've covered many times the physical aspects of off-grid living or homesteading in order to remove our dependency on the colonial structures that have grown up around us. There are many groups around the world that are working hard to be as independent as possible in order to free themselves from the corporate dependencies we have all found ourselves enslaved.
I've written many posts that highlight the steps that we have taken to accomplish this level of freedom in our own efforts to decolonize. To help others, here is a high level breakdown of the process and what to watch for.
1. Heal thyself
Let's face it. How can we self-govern if we are still fighting our own internal demons. We need to take full responsibility for our lives and that means no more blaming others for our problems. No more law suits, courts or violence of any kind, whether we are conscious of it or not. For me, it required that I take a long, hard, deep, dark look into my own soul and heal all the demons that I found within. Only then did it seem to help me keep my cool and remain peaceful, especially when others resorted to violence. If people fail to heal within, their efforts to self-govern will be sabotaged.
2. Provide for my own needs
This step actually helped my healing, so it could be done at the same time. This requires that one take active measures to ensure that they can provide for their own physical needs. Whether that be shelter, cloths, food, water and air. This takes a big step as the life style is very different than what we are used to within the colonial system. However, when we accomplish this, we will find that a good part of our our dependencies are removed and the stress is reduced significantly. I found the earthship, greenhouses, gardens, plants, animals and good old Mother Earth to be the best allies in my journey towards self-sufficiency; food, water and shelter sovereignty.
3. Say good bye to the state
Once we have taken care of all our physical needs, it is time to say good bye to the colonial system. This requires ending ALL the relationships that we have with the state and it's corporate empires. I've accomplished this by returning all their property back to them and learning to live in the peace and protection of spirit. Learning how to communicate the intent of Spirit is key. Holding boundaries and confronting violent behaviour by the state is also important as they will test us to make sure of our resolve.
What is equally important is that we learn how to decolonize our mind. We have been indoctrinated for our entire lives and all that programming takes a long time to deconstruct. Even after 15 years my heart skips a beat when I see a police car or help somebody protect themselves against CPS. This deep programming started when we were children and it takes a long time to deprogram that shit from our minds. It runs deep and it takes time to heal from the trauma, fear, anxiety and coercion that was used to turn us into obedient feudal serfs.
The other component of this step is to recognize that their pieces of paper mean nothing and are only offers to contract that we don't have to accept. The Doctrine of Discovery was initiated by the Pope to give permission to the Kings of Europe to conquer the known world. A little piece of paper or a decree from some ego driving figure head is not a justification for war, conquest, murder and other vile behaviours. Just because some guy wearing a robe says something does not make it truth. The only reason it has force is because somebody else with a gun says so. I call bull shit on that as Spirit has the highest authority and power on this planet. Each and every single one of us has the spiritual power and authority to stand on the land and steward it. When we stand in that power and authority, the relationship with the state changes suddenly. To get there requires a leap of faith as it is not intuitive at all.
4. Establish law form, customs and declare peace
This is a point that most people miss and it is important to cover. When we walk away from the defacto law form provided by the those who engage in violence, we need to establish our own law form on how we are going to govern ourselves. Otherwise, they could claim that we don't have a law form and that we are governed by the default ... theirs. It is also important to declare peace to ensure that we don't engage in war or accidentally declare war against others.
The other critical component is to establish your own customs as well. For most people who's ancestors came from Europe, our customs have been wiped out for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Being the first people colonized, we lost most of it. But we can still get it back and we need the help of the indigenous peoples all over the world to do that. Let's face it, indigenous customs around the world are basically the same.
I make my own customs and ceremonies. I am a culture of one, which has just as much validity as any other culture on this planet. Don't be afraid to be a culture of one. Be unique and embrace your individuality. Have a wonderful relationship between you, Creator and Mother Earth. Custom trumps law! Period! That is why they work so hard to assimilate people into 'their' law form. When we walk away from our customs, they will make a claim to govern and rule.
5. Help others heal and do the same
I feel that once we find our way through the gauntlet, it is our duty to help others find their way through it as well. We lead by example and we can help people by sharing our stories, encouraging them and helping them heal the traumas they experienced. When we help others, we end up with allies and the more of us that start standing up, the more courage others find within themselves to do the same. We all have different levels of courage and it is up to those of us who found that courage first to lead by example and inspire others to do the same.
6. Confront or rebuke those who engage in violence
When we find a position of peace and freedom, it is also our duty to confront and rebuke those who engage in violence against others. It is one thing to get through the trials and tribulations associated with this journey, but it also demands that we stand up for those who are down. By standing up to the bullies and violent offenders, they will soon realize that their days of empire building, raping and pillaging are numbered. They will do what they can to try and take us back down, but with enough of us standing up we make a difference.
I choose to stand on the principles that I use to govern myself as I confront others. Whether I do that myself or in solidarity with others makes no difference to me. I've done this for many years and over time I find more and more people standing beside me as they too learn how to govern themselves. We will change the world and there is nothing that the bullies and colonial empires can do to stop it.
The colonial system will try to negotiate to save itself. I say no to that. The terms are clear: No violence, no ownership, no coercion, no claims over land, people or lost souls.
I govern myself as I work on sacred stewardship of Mother Earth and myself. This decolonization process is one of the most difficult work I've done, even more so than recovery from depression. Healing from generations of violence and abuse is tough. Rebuilding healthy relationships with myself, family and friends is equally tough. But as we do this work, we heal, find peace within and come to terms with the trauma that we have hidden and ignored for far too long. These are some of the deepest causes of social problems we face today. Politicians cannot solve these problems because they helped create them!
Time to decolonize our bodies, mind, emotions and spirit. Time for freedom, peace and prosperity! Time to UNGRIP and Graduate Life with Honours!
Click here for more information on how to join The Virtue Circle
Click here to join us on Discord.
