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The People's Inauguration

10 Days to Activate Revolutionary Love

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January 22–31, 2021

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Rage

Teaching and practice with Valarie Kaur

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Today’s teaching and guided inquiry focus on cultivating a healthy relationship with rage and harnessing that energy for creative action in the world. We’ll explore the information our rage carries and define and develop “safe containers” for its expression.
Home Practice
1. Develop your safe container for rage.

2. In your wisdom journal, reflect on these questions:
What information does my rage carry? What is it telling me? How do I want to release and/or harness this energy? What does divine rage look like for me? How do I want to harness that energy into how I show up to fight in the world?

Remember, you are in the process of transformation. You may not feel complete. Grieving and raging is powerful, hard work, so go slow and be gentle.

Masthead-Line-Arrows-Mob

Interview and live Q&A

with Rabbi Sharon Brous, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Amy Olrick, and Maggie Wheeler: “Rage”

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To rage is to honor and tend to our own pain so that trauma does not hijack our ability to see another’s humanity. But how do we process our rage in a way that is healthy and safe for ourselves and others? Join Rabbi Sharon Brous, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Amy Olrick, and Maggie Wheeler as they reveal how they harness their rage to grow as people and activists, working toward an anti-racist society.

Moderated by: Melissa Ann Canlas, EdD

Session Highlights:
  • Why rage is a necessary practice in loving opponents
  • The aim of divine rage: not vengeance, but to reorder the world
  • Resisting the urge to disconnect when witnessing the rage of communities of color and others who experience injustice
  • Asking ourselves, “What information does my rage carry?”
Compass of Revolutionary Love
Rabbi Sharon Brous

Rabbi Sharon Brous

Rabbi Sharon Brous is the senior and founding rabbi of IKAR and an advocate for people of faith to reclaim a moral and prophetic voice. One of the fastest-growing and most influential Jewish congregations in the country, IKAR is credited with sparking a rethinking of religious life in a time of unprecedented disaffection and declining affiliation. Brous’s TED Talk, “Reclaiming Religion,” has been viewed by more than one million people and translated into 14 languages. In 2013, she blessed President Obama and Vice President Biden at the Inaugural National Prayer Service, and in 2017, she spoke at the Women’s March in Washington. Brous was named “the most influential rabbi in America” by Newsweek/The Daily Beast.

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

Rev. Dr. Jacqueline J. Lewis is senior minister at Middle Collegiate Church, a 1,300-member multiethnic, welcoming, and inclusive congregation in New York City. She is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary and earned her PhD in religion and society/psychology at Drew University. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Dr. Lewis hosted Just Faith, an on-demand program on MSNBC.com, and is a frequent media commentator. Her books include The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multi-racial and Multi-cultural Congregations; Ten Essential Strategies for Becoming a Multiracial Congregation; and the children’s book You Are So Wonderful. She is currently at work on a book about how to heal souls and our world.

Amy Olrick

Amy Olrick

Amy Olrick is an author and techie whose work and writing have been featured in USA Today and the Guardian. She is coauthor of the book The 6 Needs of Every Child: Empowering Parents & Kids through the Science of Connection with Dr. Jeffrey Olrick.

Maggie Wheeler

Maggie Wheeler

Maggie Wheeler is best known for her work as an actress in film, television and as the character of Janice on NBC’s hit series Friends. Maggie is a passionate singer, songwriter, choir director, and workshop facilitator. She has been teaching her vocal workshop "Singing in the Stream" for over 30 years to provide the experience of creating interpersonal and internal harmony through the powerful act of creating vocal harmony.

Melissa Ann Canlas, EdD

Melissa Ann Canlas, EdD (Moderator)

Melissa Ann Canlas, EdD, is the director of education at the Revolutionary Love Project and a full-time faculty member in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. Dr. Canlas’s research and teaching focus on issues of educational equity and human rights. As a lifelong educator, Dr. Canlas believes that education should be directed toward learning to love and care for one another as we build systems where every person can live in wellness and dignity.

  • Len Novak says:

    I am initially stymied by the perspective that the aim of divine rage is to reorder the world. I get that by changing our selves, the world is thereby changed. As I contemplate this, I realize that it can correspond that a “reordered me” can be perceived as perceived as bringing about a reordered world; And yet I currently believe that the reordered world may be only my own perception of a reordered world. It is quite apparent to me now that I will be exploring the concept of reordering the world and i am grateful for the inspiration you have provided.

  • Dorothy says:

    A loving revolution…It is a rhythm; step away to rage; return to listen; reimagine the solutions together. Amen. I’m in.

  • Sonia says:

    This is really great… and this session about rage was really hard for me. I have always wondered why getting angry, really truly angry makes me cry… anyone else feel this way? I cry, and the end result is I feel powerless, ineffective. How can I turn this into strength? Anyone have any ideas?
    Namaste

    • Len Novak says:

      Could it be that your tears are a symbol of incredible strength and that experiencing them can require a great deal of courage?

    • Len Novak says:

      It might be worth considering that those that emanate violent behavior out of their rage are not experiencing what could alternatively be an opportunity to explore the gift that is being acknowledged in the presentation we are here tuning in to.—It is my perspective that your experience of rage is indicative of your having that incredible gift. Blessings to you and your wonderful soul.

  • Daya Kaur says:

    I enjoyed listening to your ideas !Valarie . I have been reading about you on face book for some years!.

  • rick says:

    There is clearly a side of rage that is directed in ways that would be perceived as harmful: domestic abuse, animal abuse, racist/homophobic rage by police and various supremacists. So there appears to be differences of opinion as to the appropriate “container” or perhaps “outlet” for various types of rage. The people who attacked the Capitol felt that their rage was justified and righteous. Perhaps more discussion as to appropriate outlets of rage on a personal and collective level, and the distinction between one’s feelings of rage and one’s expression of that rage and which of those expressions is appropriate or ethical.

  • Lynda says:

    It isn’t just black and brown people who feel this rage. I am white, but I have had disability, and I have experienced condescension and abuse from even my own family for most of my life. I’m 65. It gives me rage inside, and I thank God for my faith. It has given me strength.

  • K Lady says:

    Melting ice.

  • BJ says:

    I listened tonight to beautiful women operating from religions created by men about men and for men. Do you have anyone who can speak of the Goddess – called out by Marija Gimbutas as the Old European Goddess, the Palaeolithic Goddess of 20,000BC whose fall has been chronicled by so many women scholars such as Marija Gimbutas and Anne Barring and Jules Cashford and Riane Eisler and Gerda Lerner and countless women who dug in and found our indigenous mothers and fathers living in equal partnership with each other and the earth throughout Europe, North Africa and the Indus Peninsula. Before the Sun God of the Patriarchy drove fear through our beings, we were a peaceful, artful, intelligent people who build great societies. Please say HER name… and peel back the shame that has been heaped upon her and her priestesses. Read and acknowledge that we are older than 5,000 years of Patriarchy – if we can go back to her then we can pick up the threads of the Goddess religion. You can reach out to Riane Eisler founder of the Center for Partnership Studies.

    • Len Novak says:

      The Center for Partnership Studies is Certainly a wonderful resource. I am not very knowledgeable about various religions from whatever era of the history of this planet and or beyond and have little more than a passing interest. I am interested and involved and appreciating the resources presented here now. And now your perspective gets to be shared via this wonderful happening. I do not feel that I nor hopefully anyone else will be indoctrinated by or into any Patriarchy.. It seems to me that it would require extensive research to access the incredible knowledge and develop the respect and sensitivity you have for the Goddesses and scholars you are familiar with. And now that I have finally become aware of my own intention in presenting any of this; It is that I am simply continuing to focus my energy in the now and I now thank you and this wonderful resource for the inspiration. and opportunity to share. Sincerely Len

  • Lynda says:

    What time is the morning session?

  • ahmui cheong says:

    Thank you! I enjoyed and learnt from your wisdom.

  • Lorolie Andrews says:

    As in love we bring our whole self — body, mind, spirit, soul —
    so in dealing with RAGE we must bring our whole selves.

  • Therese says:

    This has been so enlightening and truly helpful. Thanknyou.
    I cannot find the chat /Q and A space. . can you make a suggestion please.

  • Jacoby Ballard says:

    I have a technical question. I’ve been tuning into these wonderful, heartfelt discussions each night, and listening to the Q &A. Thank you, I am so hungry for this. I tune in through the website, but each evening, Valarie mentions the zoom, to put comments in or ask questions. How do I tune in over zoom? Thank you!

  • Catherine Massey says:

    Oh, my! I have so needed this in these times! This empowers me and strengthens my voice for speaking truth.

  • Julia says:

    Thank you Sounds True for always having your finger on the pulse of what is needed on our planet. Beautiful, powerful song and conversation! I’ll be singing that song ongoing. Thank you. <3

  • Jude says:

    Such a wonderful introspective program with amazing contributors and the divine leadership and facilitation from Valerie.

  • Trish Hayes says:

    exhilarated

  • Regina Walther says:

    Light entering

  • Susan says:

    I’m worried that I used up my rage as a teacher, and now retired, I just have a few lumps in my belly without fire.

  • Sa says:

    I love that this program is helping me feel resourced. In touch with awareness, energy of emotion , release from not enough or shame, new possibilities of connection. Listening until my deep story finds the thread that connects to your heart where your story connects to mine

  • Lesa says:

    Love Maggie Wheeler!! Thank you for having her!!

  • Sa says:

    Amy’s story remind me of difference of the reality of your loss vs loss of your reality ( the faith framework that had been bedrock truth) .

  • VALARI TAYLOR says:

    My rage is real and raw and I can feel in the frontal lobe of my brain. It causes me to cry and pray. I am a born again Christian and I speak in tounges as I cry. I am pouring out my grief and pain to God. I believe he hears me and understands my rage. He does not allow my rage ot over take me but rather, he allows me to express it, harness it, define, share it and live with it. As a person of faith I am able to forgive others, (forget, no I don’t) and I forgive those that ask for forgiveness, ( I do not give it out freely) , but I am able to harness my rage and function in this world. My rage causes me to vote, march, support civic organizations, phone bank, write letters, reach out to my elected officials and to donate my time and money to the causes I believe in.

  • Jann says:

    What is the difference between divine rage and righteousness?

  • Sa says:

    I am thinking if that whitewashed literally cleaned up Black Madonna and how we do not talk about messy, angry warrior God seeking vengeance without taming it or rushing to order. We miss so much of what we needed from that energy so relatable in midst of our messy human lives.

  • MARK S EKDAHL says:

    Thank you so much for this. It helped me process a lot of rage, including at law enforcement and various defenders of the status quo. I felt a lot of tension in my forearms, as if they were being restrained. I have never realized my own insignificance so acutely. I think my rage reaction was short-circuited or hampered as well. I never learned to defend myself adequately. So much loss. A panicky feeling of being lost in space, or marooned on an island. Alienated and alone. So many regrets and feelings of being a lost soul. Of losing so much of my memory. Of living in my own world far too much and being unimportant and never being part of a loving community. I love Eve Ensler. I saw her Vagina Monilogues at Scripps College around 2005 and she was amazing.

  • Susan says:

    Remind me, what serves as a shield?

  • Julie L says:

    Please consider updating your description of the physical reactions to stress to include not just fight, flight, and freeze, but also the fawn response. Too few people know about it.

    https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/the-fight-flight-freeze-fawn-trauma-responses

    • Monica Jayne 🦄 says:

      And also the Collapse response, which is nuanced from freeze. 🙏 Thank you for brining this up, Julie L. I had the same request.

  • Suzanne Rollen says:

    Interestingly, after watching last night’s Q & A (Day 3 – Fight), I had a dream that seems very relevant. In fact, it incorporated some of my feelings about Rage, as well, and I didn’t even realize that was today’s topic. In fact, I feel like I was releasing rage through my dreams, in a similar way that you did in your somatic therapy session.

    In the dream, I made some new friends at a community center. We actually did a beautiful impromptu aerial performance and dance together. Shortly after, one of the men I had just performed with received a death threat. Some of us followed him home to ensure his safety and were invited in to witness a protective ritual that he and his family’s culture practiced (something with a pool of water in their home). My new friend ended up hiding in the pool all night. I stayed up late to keep watch with his father, listening to him, feeling his deep pain, and seeing both fear and a fierce, yet tender love for his son in his eyes. In the morning, we’d discovered that somehow, my friend had been killed overnight. It was only then, that I realized it was related to his brown skin and Middle Eastern heritage. As his family and friends grieved and begin to rage, I felt it burning within me, too. Such a beautiful, creative, loving human being ripped from my life so violently

    We then got word that a militia was coming with plans to kill more. We fortified the home and found places to hide. I grabbed a shotgun, which immediately surprised me. I have always disliked guns, weapons of war, and fighting. Would I… could I even use this gun? Soon, armed soldiers burst in, one poised to open fire with a machine gun. Without a second thought, I fired and hit the soldier in the solar plexus, knocking them backwards. The face shield flew up and I saw it was a woman! I suddenly felt such guilt and shame. It was then, that I recognized these militia members’ humanity. I shot from fear and anger, which was exactly what brought them to us. Their own fear and anger.

    The dream continued with a lot more layers… violence, fear, grieving, rage, guilt, shame, and the processing of it all. I do a lot of processing in my dreams. After hearing your talk today, I realize it’s one of my safe containers for rage, even if it is unintentional. For years following an almost decade-long emotionally and sexually abusive relationship, I continued to suppress my feelings, especially my anger and rage. It came out in my dreams, though. I can’t even begin to count the number of dreams where I violently, brutally killed my ex. At the time, I found it disturbing, but now I’m grateful that my subconscious allowed me to begin processing and releasing, even though I didn’t know how/wasn’t ready to do so in my waking life. Since then, thankfully, I’ve found much healthier ways to heal. Even so, I’ve still carried resistance to allowing rage and anger to surface. That’s something I’ve been opening to more recently, as I’ve really learned the beauty of facing my shadows, but it’s still a work in progress.

    Thank you for being another advocate for allowing, feeling, and processing my deep emotions and transmuting them into something that empowers and fuels me as I step forward in action. I am now ready to consciously choose safe containers for my rage and begin proactively releasing all that I’ve gripped so tightly that it’s caused me even more pain. I’m ready for more radical, revolutionary love!

    I’m looking forward to your wisdom, and that of your phenomenal guests over the next 6 days… and I’ve already gotten a copy of your book to read once this program is done. Thank you so much for being you and sharing your light and wisdom with all of us.

    • Alive Di says:

      Thank you for sharing and especially opening up such a vivid dream that allowed you to move into a new territory of healing. Our safe containers can be many, and I appreciate seeing a window into those I’ve not explored.

  • Nicole says:

    I felt the rage in my throat. A lot of coughing all the things stuffed down all the words unsaid, all the times when I did not defend myself or another. I used a shaking practice and noticed all the tension in my shoulders and neck as well. As I shook I could feel the energy move to feel more free and powerful. I realize there is more trapped rage to work with and also by freeing it I awaken to a more powerful me who is less afraid to speak up and speak out.

  • BDBinc says:

    Love has no opposite.
    Transformation of repressed anger/rage by being aware of it is important.
    What this is is great expression of the needed revolution an inner one, where we choose love not fear.
    Its healing.
    A good practice for our love revolution is meta meditations ” May I be safe, May I be happy, may I be healthy” then you use the next person close to you that you can feel this love for . Then a stranger .Do not try to do it with an enemy until you are healed (and ” have no enemies”). It is enough to do this blessing practice to all beings that you are able to if like me you cannot do it for people that have harmed you or you dislike its normal its totally OK you haven’t failed .
    Trying to extend the practice to all beings is the end goal.

    • Sa says:

      If you listen to her morning practice Valarie shares experience using metta and how he’d mentor deepened her healing with a somatic practice

    • Anabel says:

      The awareness of the anger can help transform it.
      Valarie K the Maori Haka that you saw at the Christchurch false flag( for internet censorship) is a war dance( & war is hate in action).

  • Kat says:

    Today I am raging and stomping to “March March” by The Chicks. This song helped me access my rage this summer when the song first came out. Today, instead of singing the line “I’m an army of one,” I tried singing “I’m a warrior-sage” to honor Baratunde’s criticism of the “army of one” trope in America. However, I still find the “march, march to my own drum” line helpful because I am still in the process of learning to honor my rage as I leave traditions that taught me to suppress my rage.

  • Patrick Watters says:

    I know it is up to the young to carry on and carry forward, but it is good as well to tap the wisdom of the elders. Indigenous people knew this well in both matriarchs and patriarchs.

    • Sa says:

      I think that older folk in our community were really bringing it in this election season because we can – we have wisdom, reason, perspective , and time and power of position and networks.

  • Jim says:

    Interesting presentation. It changed my perception of rage as a total negative expression and it has given me a new element in my journey of progress as to a possibly better way to express my rage.

  • Alisha says:

    Such a powerful teaching & practice that has allowed for many insights into the suffering I see in my life and others. Thank you for sharing your personal story so it can help me more deeply understand my own.

  • Jagdish says:

    This session stirred up strong memories from the past. I was on 10 days retreat. At the sunrise we were doing 45 minutes of chaotic meditation. We could keep our eyes open or closed. We let whatever suppressed emotions arose in our mind and body and let them out. It was a very cathartic experience.

  • Karen says:

    Tiger Story

    What if the lieutenant in Valarie’s story was in her own or her husband’s family? What if he is a well regarded leader in Valarie’s faith community?
    What if her mother chose to place her loyalty to the men in her family over Valarie? What if she was told, if you try to hold the lieutenant accountable he will lose his job and the family will lose their income?
    The above are examples of the stranglehold that many of my fellow white women are in and why they remain so loyal to social arrangements that do not benefit them or their daughters.

  • Lynda says:

    I am so frustrated because I cannot figure out how to access the 10day revolutionary love program on my IPad. I thought I had registered. Finally tonight,wanting to hear the Day 4 speakers, I was finally able to get Valarie Kaur’s introduction to Rage. . I’m not sure how I got to it, but at some point it went off and I could not get it back. Is there a way for me to get some tech support?

    • Alisha says:

      Email the Sounds True support team at support@soundstrue.com

      • Sandy says:

        Are the evening talks being recorded for listening at other times? I want to hear a diversity of voices, but 8pm doesnt work. So i can find Valerie’s talks, but am more interested in the others. Please tell me where those links are.

        • rcn says:

          That time doesn’t usually work for me, either. However, if you registered, the email message sent prior to each talk has a link to the Livestream, which I discovered is also accessible after the talk has ended. I’ve been able to view all 3 talks so far this way. Hope this helps!

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