Powers that be

Today I’d like to discuss power dynamics and how they play out in our lives. I am highly aware that collectively we have powers that be who are running the show, and that right now many groups are demanding change. However, for the purposes of this piece I’d like to stick with the individual and their immediate, external relationships.

The first place I start when I consider power dynamics is myself. There is this internal struggle between my head and heart that plays out. I believe this is true for almost everyone. There are times you feel powerful and times you feel powerless. How do you navigate that space? How do you integrate that duality that exists and achieve some kind of balance?

The truth is until you do that no external relationship you enter will be healthy and balanced. Instead, they will challenge you to the core. They will bring up resentment you will project onto the other person. You cannot force the other person to change. The reason they don’t change has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with them and what they’ve been through.

Start with understanding that nothing anyone else says or does to you is personal. That often it is a mirror or reflection to how they speak to themselves, or how they feel about themselves. This allows you to not tie your self-worth up in what other people say or do. Start owning the fact that your worth is…