Reflect With Love: Power

In the past week, we witnessed a transition of power within the United States government. In the first 24 hours after Biden and Harris were inaugurated, the Muslim ban was reversed, DACA protections were strengthened, the Mexico-U.S. border wall construction was halted and the Keystone XL Pipeline ceased. Executive orders with some of the most inclusive language in U.S. history prevented discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. We’ve also seen the Bernie memes and embraced the numerous places where he has appeared: a visual representation of what it means to “show up” and “do the work.” When we consider power, we must ask ourselves how will we choose to wield the agency we do have access to? How can we identify our strengths and use our positionality as a force for good.

This week we offer the following activities to catalyze this exploration.

JOURNAL PROMPTS

Where do you hold power?

How can you use your power as a force of good?

LOCATE POWER IN YOUR BODY

When you think about power, how does it reveal itself to you on the physiological level? What parts of your body feel activated when you feel powerful? Does this change when you think about exploitative versus positive power? What do you notice about the sensations that are present? When you think about positive power in your body, what shifts?

LOCATE WHERE YOU HAVE POWER

When you think about your spheres of influence, where do you hold power? Perhaps it’s within your family, your friend group, your workplace or your community. Notice and even draw a map of where you hold influence. In what ways do you hold power and privilege? In what ways can you use your power and privilege to increase equity, create opportunity or heal divides?