When in War—Play!
I can now better distinguish between what needs to be done about the present situation in Israel and what is to grieve over. That people have reached this situation is something to grieve over. That my whole country is at this stage is something to grieve over. There is no urgent need to “fix it.” This is where we are. People are that restimulated and lacking in correct information. It’s okay that it is that twisted. It’s okay to accept this reality. Only if we accept it will we be able to change things really. Otherwise we will act on urgency and will not take rational actions (for example, we will have angry sessions at people instead of lovingly and powerfully giving them information).
I can discharge whatever feelings come up. I can listen to people’s anger about what’s going on.1 I interrupted a racist conversation in a Jerusalem (Israel) train station. I said, “All people are precious,” and got roared at2 by many people all at once. I stayed a counselor and kind of3 enjoyed the situation, telling the people that I respected them and stuff. It was fun actually, now that I remind myself of it.
I see Israeli Jewish people anxiously reading the news and listening to radio news and becoming more angry and isolated from each other by the time the news is done. People are restimulated by the media and given a false image all the time. If they also get isolated from each other, they will necessarily act irrationally because they will not have the resources of closeness and play to think about things flexibly and humanly.
It will be a tremendous resource if we find ways to get close and play, if we show less respect to the distress of discouragement and don’t sit all grumpy and watch the news and refuse to play. The discouraging feelings say, “What’s the point?” It’s okay to feel defeated and still play! Playing takes us out of the believability of distress into present time.
Like,4 be willing to be all embarrassed and awkward. It will do miracles for your heavy isolation distress. Play and then have a session; your session will go better. Notice your addictions. Notice your isolation. They’re your response to what is going on. They are interesting, a clue to your early material.5 (Good news: you are not small anymore—you have power, you have allies, you know how to discharge your irrationalities.) You don’t have the needs of a young person anymore. You don’t need other adults to take care of you and counsel you at every moment.
It’s a good time to remember how powerful a loving mind is and to discharge and do things we like and be close to people we love. It’s a reminder that living is precious and fun and the most powerful thing to do with people. Don’t underestimate silliness and lightness and fun and an optimistic attitude—especially not now, when everyone, including you, is acting serious and isolated and grumpy and worried (ha ha). The restimulations don’t own us—we can shine, even during war, and remember benign reality.
And lastly: Actually have sessions! Your distress isn’t going to go anywhere unless you discharge it and act against it.
Let us all discharge our fears and aim for a life that’s much closer to others. Let us use this time to change our chronics6 instead of believing restimulations of powerlessness. Amen!
I had another thought: that the leadership of young people is crucial in our work to end war and to have a powerful peace movement. The reason is that young people are peace gurus. Getting close to people contradicts violence. Young people are masters in this field. Play, creativity—all young people’s fields. You need young people to show you the way. Young people know benign reality. War is trying to create an illusion of hurtful, bad, isolated reality for human beings. Young people know shit!7 And you need to listen up and learn from them, especially now in these times of war.
Tal Mizrahi (age 23)
Even Sappir, Jerusalem, Israel
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion lists for leaders of Jews and for RC Community members
1 “Going on” means happening.
2 “Roared at” means yelled at.
3 “Kind of” means somewhat.
4 “Like,” in this context, is a word that people often insert into a phrase or sentence.
5 “Material” means distress.
6 Chronic patterns In this context, “shit” means a lot.