Spiritual Journaling

“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

My hope for you when you are upset with the world around you is that you take time to listen with your heart for what you believe to be true—and, with courage, write and speak this truth. I say this because your community (both the local community and the global one) needs to hear your voice—the voice of our young adults.

What do you need to speak out about? What are your concerns in your personal life, in your community, in the world around you? What do you witness that upsets you? What do you sense would make the adults in your life uneasy if you did speak out about it? What needs to be talked about—and heard? What are you passionate about? What moves you to compassionate action?

“We are here because there are things that need our help. Like the planet. Like each other. Like animals. The world is like a garden, and we are its protectors.”

—B. B. KING, BLUES MUSICIAN

The “truth” that you need to express is part of the “Thunder Wisdom” you hold during the Thundering Years—your teenage and young adult years. This energy and wisdom is a powerful force that you can use to help those who are suffering and in need, including yourself and the planet. Compassionate action is “acting out” with purpose. It is using your Thunder energy in a powerful and positive way. It is the thunder in the storm that brings the rain to feed the soil and plants. The thunder may frighten us because it is so noisy, but it brings us needed nourishment. Bring us—your community—what we need. Let us hear your thunder.

Your emotions may be many and intense: sadness, confusion, numbness, hope, hopelessness, fear, and anger. We are not typically encouraged to listen to our anger. Instead, we are instructed to “control” it. While it is important not to harm anyone with our anger, the emotion itself is valuable. It’s worth paying attention to and doing something with. Your intensity is an important part of who you are right now. And your anger, along with your need to “act out,” is also a part of this intensity. Getting your message heard can be a challenge. Speaking out about your feelings, protesting issues that concern you, expressing your anger creatively, and helping others speak out are powerful ways to use your energy. Acting out with what wisdom-keepers refer to as “skillful means”—rocking the boat without harming anyone—is part of the intense journey into independence.

“There’s so much plastic in this culture that vinyl leopard skin is becoming an endangered synthetic.”

—THE CHARACTER JUDITH BEASLEY, WRITTEN BY JANE WAGNER

Anger can be an invitation to take a new road—or to make a new road—because something is not working the old way.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the enormity and complexity of things you’d like to see done differently in the world. Before you get paralyzed into no action at all, stop … take a breath … and think of what you might do if you could change one thing. Keep it small. Keep it simple. It doesn’t need to be big to make a big difference. None of us has to look very far to know we are needed.

Just look around—where there is pain, there is a need for help. Or look inside yourself. You may choose to help others whose suffering is similar in nature or cause to your own. Simply being kind to someone can generate a lot of healing, both in that person and in yourself.

Don’t be afraid to reach out, speak up, and help yourself and others. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “We must be the change we want in the world.” I believe your young adult years are of great importance for you and for the community. I know you hold a lot of vision and opinions about the world—your school, the violence around us, what might help, what is going wrong, and what we could do better. Please let your voice be heard.

Send a letter to the local paper, make a poster or a bumper sticker, write a poem, speak up to others, pray for those who are hurting. Volunteer your time and energy, listen to someone, smile at a stranger, finish some project, seek help in ending abuse in your life, call your grandparents, sit down and have a meal with your family, read a book to someone who can’t read, learn to meditate, send a letter to someone, go for a walk to contemplate what is truly beautiful about this planet. You will feel better, much better, and you will help countless people—people you care about, and people you will never meet.

“The best possible work has not yet been done. If I were twenty-one today I would elect to join the communicating network of those young people, the world over, who recognize the urgency of life-supporting change, knowledge joined to action: knowledge about what man has been and is can protect the future.”

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

Small service is true service… The daisy, by the shadow that it casts, Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun.

—WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, ENGLISH POET