I know change is possible
This morning I read the newspaper and saw that four dolphins had washed ashore in San Diego after being shot in the head. Then I read the rumblings from the government about attacking Iran before it develops nuclear weapons. Then a friend of mine called and told me a friend of a friend had died suddenly from heart failure. And then I looked in the mirror and saw the eyebrow droop cascading down my face. It practically reached my collarbone. Dead dolphins, war, heart failure, eyebrow droop. Not a good beginning to the day. It was only 7:30.
I lumbered into the kitchen thinking about breakfast and remembered that on her show yesterday, Oprah mentioned that Barbara Streisand sent her cupcakes for breakfast from Sprinkles Bakery in Los Angeles. Chocolate gooey things and white frosty things that you pop from the microwave to your mouth in about thirty seconds. Only the best ingredients, Oprah said, as pink-cladded servers handed out Sprinkles cupcakes decorated with daisies to a thrilled audience.
This is how I know change is possible: Despite the fact that Oprah and Barbra Streisand think eating cupcakes for breakfast is a good idea, I don’t. Although it’s true that I once thought that eating seven layer cake for breakfast followed by a hot fudge sundae for lunch followed by pizza and ice cream for dinner was a sensible meal plan, those days are gone. Kaput. There is no charge around eating Barbra and Oprah’s cupcakes. No desire to eat when I am not hungry. It’s as if a different person lives in this body now. Someone who feels friendly towards her body. Someone who wants to eat what feels good in her body and is not tempted to eat food that will send her sprinkling (careening, really) into outer space. And here’s what I know to be absolute truth: If one person can change, anyone can. If I can go from insane about food to relatively sane, so can you.
Change is possible despite the heartache of death and carbon emissions and our war mongering government, and most especially of eyebrow droop. We can’t give up. On ourselves or the world we live in. One of my favorite quotes of Ram Dass’ (and this is a paraphrase because I can’t seem to find it in any of his books or on the internet) is that whether we are sailing into the New Age or facing Armageddon, our work is still the same: to look as deeply as we can into our hearts, to tell the truth, and to question our old beliefs. To be willing to have our hearts break rather than keep ourselves protected. Emotional eating is based on old beliefs of what keeps us safe. Wars between countries are based on old beliefs of what keeps us safe. Question the war inside yourself because what you find inside you is what gets reflected in the world we live. It can’t be any other way, since the world is us. If you want to change the world, start with yourself. Start by asking yourself if eating cupcakes for breakfast is an act of tenderness. Question the way you treat yourself, your children, your neighbors. Become your own beloved.