Declaration of Interdependence
A Statement of Our commitment to Love-Based living
Love first. While love alone is not enough, love is the guiding principle of our affairs. When we speak or don't speak, act or don't act it is from the highest place of love that we choose the cadence and timing of our words and our silence, our actions and our inactions.
We resolve to never wander around in hope and fear because we have found that doing so limits the possibility that our hopes will be realized and compounds the possibility that our fears will manifest.
Instead, we speak our hopes and fears out loud to the very people who have the power to bring our hopes and fears to reality with the understanding that doing so in the presence of love allows new ground to be broken and old patterns to be put to rest.
We are committed to honoring both the light and dark side of our natures in order to not over identify with what is bad in us or live with the delusion that we are all good. We recognize that it is harmful to beat ourselves up for our shortcomings or to consider ourselves superior to anyone else.
Whenever possible, we will speak out in the moment when something is uncomfortable physically or emotionally or psychically and stay committed to honoring the same effort in others. We will let as little time as possible lapse between the moment when we realize we have not honored our own feelings and the time we express them to the people who need to hear how we have been affected.
We endeavor not to make excuses for our own poor behavior regardless of how poor or inappropriate someone else's behavior or the circumstances were in the situation where we behaved poorly. We will make humble apologies directly to the people we have mistreated by our words, deeds or inaction needing nothing in return for our apology except the knowledge that we expressed it.
We will offer our gifts, talents, services and skills freely while accepting the gifts, talents, services and skills of others. We will not give without receiving or receive without giving, lest either position weaken us in spirit. We will look for overall equality in our relations over long periods of time rather than needing things to be even and fair in the moment or even day to day.
Whenever possible we will learn from the people that assist us so as not to become dependent on their help. We will offer our help to others in such a way that allows everyone who is able to learn the same skills that we have rather than trying to keep the methods of our work to ourselves.
We will give bitterness and despair only the shortest of visits in our lives allowing ourselves to vent and cry as needed to cleanse our souls but not allowing these emotions to so overtake us or linger on in us in ways that make moving on and moving forward impossible.
We will compare ourselves to who we were in the past and who we aspire to be in the future in order to measure progress. We will abstain from comparing ourselves to other individuals or other groups to avoid letting feelings of mediocrity or superiority block our progress.
We will reach out with genuine affection to anyone who seems receptive to our love and gather in our most inner circle those who can appreciate and reciprocate the love we give.
We do not have to agree with or even understand another person or group's world view in order to engage in relationship with that person or group with respect and dignity.
We do not require or expect everyone we interact with to agree with or understand our world view. We and any person or group we interact with have the right to request certain words or phrases and deeds be treated with sensitivity and respect. We can agree to disagree on all manner of things and still eat together, talk together, do ceremony together, plan together and do business together.
We reserve the right to set firm boundaries with any person who consistently violates either intentionally or unintentionally the requests we make of how we are to be treated.
We treat and are to be treated with love, dignity and respect.
