The Joyous Justice Podcast
The Joyous Justice Podcast
Episode 119: Rededication over Resolutions
Inspired by the Chanukah themes of rededicating the Temple, April and Tracie explore what it would look like to practice rededication, particularly as an alternative to New Years’ resolutions. While resolutions might feel transactional or center around deficit, rededication recognizes what we’re working for and builds upon it. And, we get into the important role that community and our interconnectedness plays in moving toward the world we want.
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Read about Cheshbon HaNefesh, accounting of the soul: https://www.judaismyourway.org/2021/08/20/soul-accounting/
Discussion and reflection questions:
- What in this episode is new for you? What have you learned and how does it land?
- What is resonating? What is sticking with you and why?
- What feels hard? What is challenging or on the edge for you?
- What feelings and sensations are arising and where in your body do you feel them?
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You're listening to the Joyce justice podcast,
Tracie:a weekly show hosted by April Baskin with Tracy guy Decker.
April Baskin:in a complex world in which systemic oppression conditions us to deny others and our own humanity, let's dedicate ourselves to the pursuit and embodiment of wholeness, love and thriving in the world and in our own lives. It's time to heal and flourish our way to a more joyously just future. Hi, Tracy. Hey, there April. Happy I wonder. Thank you Happy Hanukkah, and hi person listening in. It's good to be here with you. It's good to be back after our first break. In our two year plus streak of producing and publishing podcasts, yeah. was well deserved. And I'm still feeling a bit tired. So I'm excited to be mindful and prioritize my restoration. unrest. I'm trying to, you know, what's the word rejuvenation or getting back into balance? I feel like I made steady progress. I feel like I added up in the bank, but there's still a bit of a deficit. So. But that's not a little bit of a downer. And I wanted to talk about things that I'm excited about. And why I want to feel so rested and energized, which is that one, this is a season of lights and holidays and connections across not all but a number of different traditions. It's cold time for many people in the world. In Senegal, it's still hot, but the air conditioner isn't on, which is, you know, it's almost at the level, my partner would call cold. And I would just call it not hot. It's not even chilly. It's just not hot. Like room temp. That sounds like it's freezing. Anyway, so we just getting centered here, and I welcome our listener on you to Tracy to do the same. We are on the other side of our first live workshop. That was really incredible. Yeah, it was so special, we got to connect with new and old friends, longtime friends and acquaintances and got to have really powerful conversations. And I'm excited to do this more over the course of the next year with you, Tracy, I feel like we just we both had this incredible experience. And we just touched the surface of the kinds of conversations and interactions we can have and relationships we can establish and lessons that we can collectively learn that we can teach and also that we can learn from the people who are co creating this experience with us. Do you have any reflections that you want to refract back?
Tracie:It was it was really powerful for me to see folks, both folks for whom it was brand new, and also folks who have heard it before. Really, like hear the lessons and and immediately see how what we were sharing could help them in their lives. That was really, really gratifying.
April Baskin:Yeah. So juicy, you had an idea of a Hanukkah inspired theme that I think is really wonderful, and also super relevant for loads of people. And it's also kind of inherently which doesn't have to be but it also is kind of inherently intercultural, because it's a sort of a dialogue between some of the insights from our Jewish holiday and how we can use that to be in mindful conversation with societal patterns and trends around the Gregorian the approaching Gregorian New Year.
Tracie:Yeah. Thanks for that introduction, April. You're welcome. So I've been thinking about Hanukkah. And the, we often talk about the symbolism of the light, which we also have some ideas about, which I don't know if we'll get into today or in a future episode, but the light is very obvious and frequent kind of symbol that people talk about, appropriately. So. And there's another concept built into the Hanukkah story that I've been thinking about, as you alluded to, in regards to the new year and, and that's the idea of rededication Because that's ultimately what the Maccabees were looking to to do and did with that oil that miraculously lasted longer than they thought it would, was that they rededicated the temple. And so I'm thinking about rededication as a foil or as an alternative to a New Year's resolution, and
April Baskin:UI.
Tracie:What I like about it, is that as we were discussing before we hit record. There's something that is just inherently appreciative in the idea of rededication so as opposed to a resolution, where I'm like, where someone not me, might say, like, all these things are wrong with me, that are wrong with my life or are wrong with the way that I show up and I'm going to fix them. That's my resolution is to fix these things. To talk about a rededication is sort of acknowledging that you care about whatever it is, and you're going to sort of dive in and different way.
April Baskin:I just had an idea that Do you mind if I jump in for a second? As you were talking, there's something about there's a little bit of like, a dynamic I see between how you just described rebel resolutions, revolutions, I also would love a loving resolution. But that's what we're talking about. Right now we're talking about resolutions versus rededication is that when you were talking about rededication the essence, or the spirit of it that came through for me was that is was that it's much more relational is that there's appreciation, but there's also connection, there's there's a sense of interconnectedness, whereas like, resolution to me doesn't inherently mean that it's transactional, or that it's devoid of relationship, but nothing about resolution implies any sort of relationship or connection, it is more transactional, like this, I this thing needs to get done. And so there's like separate questions on that path of if we're doing something that is devoid of connection. That is it really isn't the best thing for us if it isn't, actually, if there isn't a conversation or a dialogue or connective tissue between us. And this resolution as opposed to rededication that might be connected to us or to other things that matter to us. I just wanted to add in that little layer.
Tracie:No, I think that's a lovely layer. I mean, especially from the story, it was a rededication of the temple, which was the place in which God could be among us. And even if that doesn't work for I mean, if that works, that works for me, if that doesn't work for someone listening, I still think it's powerful because it a rededication is, even within the story, it's a return to what what was true, were returned to what is true and pure about oneself, potentially, if you're rededicating, to some rededicating yourself to something that you care about. And it feels like it feels to me as a way to set oneself up for success. Like the difference between a goal and intention, a difference between saying, I'm going to work out three days a week and 2023 and saying, I'm going to rededicate myself to my health or to my my body's well being or even to being the kind of person you know, Allah James clear. Being the kind of person who works out regularly. That's a James clear frame. He's a he's a guy who writes about habits he started in fitness. But even even that feels like the intention versus that goal of three days a week. I know for me, when I fall down on that goal, if I set it as a goal, if I if I miss it, for whatever reason. It's a lot harder than for me to come back like the streak feels really important. And the goal whereas with the intention, especially if I'm thinking about my well being sometimes working out is not the right thing for my body. Sometimes resting is the right thing. And so that that more positive rededication just feels like it sets me up so that I'm not then beating myself up when circumstances make it harder and it makes it easier for me to get back in.
April Baskin:A couple more pieces that I'm thinking to add here. Thank you Tracy is that like rededication sense is there's a sense of history with rededication and there's also a sense of that there's something worth fighting for there's like much more of a why. Right there was dedication, and now we want to read that there was connection and whether or not the actual dedication was there and there's a sense of there's something here that is sacred and important. And I am obviously but also this thing that I'm working toward isn't just a shallow thing written on a page or something. It's not it's anchored in purpose and meaning.
Tracie:Yep. I love it. You know it also, you mentioned this before we started here, before we hit record about my, my insight about Heshbon ha nefesh, the accounting of the soul and thinking about accounting in the actual, you know, English sense of that we need both sides of the ledger, rededication feels like that as well. Right? So, whereas a resolution is all about the deficit, or tends to be anyway, it tends to be about the deficit that you're seeing in the past. rededication actually, even in the word holds both sides of the ledger, because you're saying something needs to be needs attention. So there's some sort of deficit but but there is something good there that that is being rededicated or added to, to pawn Yeah. Yeah, exactly. There's, there's, there's that history that you just mentioned, I think that history speaks to the fact that there are two sides of the ledger, when, when we're considering whatever this intention might be. I kind of like that, especially since a hash one had nephesh and a resolution, like, feel related. And so that it makes it makes sense to me, it just sort of dovetails neatly.
April Baskin:And now my mind is going like massively meta, and we can return back to the path you were on in a second if it's okay. But as you're talking, it makes me think about how this is an interesting reframe, for say, like the US. And about, like goals, or resolution versus rededication. And I didn't go into too immediately to the US I went to like for people, that this is something that I've learned over the years of doing powerful social change work is that in certain ways, people need to either return to old stories or develop new stories that explain their why. So like, if someone say, is a white person who was raised in a mostly racist context, it's helpful for them to identify white abolitionists, either within their family or in their region, or just in the country, or people or some sort of history and relationship with other folks who were who can help them contextualize themselves in a lineage that that can support them in that work. And it just had me thinking about, and then my mind jumped to the United States, if folks are hanging in with, with hanging in with me with this around. It's just like a subtle shift. But I like that to think about rededicating. And which essentially goes back to like, to me that from my perspective, goes back to like, land back. And it's a very issue on Truth and Reconciliation, but noticing that it's not devoid that actually there is history on this land. And there are people who have done good things, and what does it look like for us to rededicate to re envision and rededicate ourselves to some of our values. And anyway, I just I like I like chewing on and thinking about this framing that you're offering, and the different assets, and there may have been substantial mismanagement. But if we start to engage, and I recognize I'm saying some very bold things, but I still am enjoying it, you know, if we start to really engage around honoring indigenous sovereignty and start noticing, like, huh, separate from what we've invested it in terms of our economy and government in terms of like the overall planet and our collective well being and us living on a planet with finite resources needed, the original inhabitants of this land have some pretty good thoughts about how to make this all work. And they're not even saying a nearly all of them aren't even saying like, we need to completely burn down everything that's here. We're just talking about being like shifting the nature of our relationships in different ways. And so that it can work well for all of us. And so there can be less collective suffering. So you can feel free to join in I'm not tracing respond to that at all. Or if you want to go back to where you were. I'm happy for that to have been interlude, a little bit of an aside. Yeah,
Tracie:actually, what what came up for me as you were talking and thinking about America, about the US and like rededicating rededicating ourselves to our values. I was thinking about Langston Hughes as pull on let America be America. Where it wasn't, it wasn't sort of a. So Langston Hughes, as a black poet was sort of saying like, this is what America says it isn't. It's never been that for me. And I think that and it's not just he. He talks about the way that that the American values have not been shared with a lot of different folks, not just black folks, but but all kinds of different racial and ethnic and socio and economic backgrounds of folks who just weren't able to access the so called American dream, or even some of the values that we claim to espouse. And that so that's where I was what I was thinking about. As you were talking about applying the this idea of rededication to the US. I last year, a little bit more than a year ago. Um, you and I both, I think, sort of based on Gretchen Rubin, though, we found her through Tamir and Carrie Bentley, did like the sort of like our personal commandments or Rules for Living. Which I actually like speaking of rededicating, um, I pulled them down off the wall, and then like, thinking, are these Is this still right? Am I going to rededicate myself to these 10? Or do I need to like, revise a little bit? And that's, that's sort of what I'm thinking, but like, we don't do that, like as a society, right, we sort of say, these are our values, but we never actually do that account check in on him. Right, either side of the ledger, which is, God forbid if we did. Yeah, it's an interesting.
April Baskin:I mean, sure, another idea with you. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Sorry, finish that
Tracie:I just, I just would say thing is sort of an interesting practice, as an individual. And I know some you know, sometimes organizations do it, often they don't. And then like, the bigger we go, the less likely it is that folks are doing.
April Baskin:So it's interesting that you brought that up, because you haven't Thank you. So see if I can remember both things I'm wanting to speak to want to bring it back to the individual level with what you were just talking about with the OSI that I took us down. And also, to your point about the practice that we learned from Carrie and Dimir. I've been thinking about it and feeling not pleased about it. And I want to go back and look at Yeah, but now as I'm hearing you, I'm like, Oh, maybe I should revisit it. And I think it'd be I would just potentially really heavily revise it in light of all that I've learned this year and the journey and the massive spiritual and professional transformation. I've been on around. So you saying that is inspiring me to rededicate myself or to try on rededicating myself to the practice, because I took it very seriously when I first did it. And I also noticed, like my things were, it was so heavy, when I did it before I write and like it was like some of them combined like two or three into one.
Tracie:Yeah, I remember my recollection of yours was it was like paragraphs, whereas mine were like two or three words for each
April Baskin:come. Yeah. And was around that, right. And right now, like the thing that keeps coming up for me for an intention for 2023. I didn't have an intention for this Jewish, maybe I did a little bit, I'll have to look back at my notes and think about it. But it was more like I feel I've felt like I've been an active conversation with the Divine and myself and that it just like I'm in process around like I don't I didn't need to add an additional layer like I'm so deep and navigating the intentions. But now I'm having gotten to the other side of this live workshop that wasn't just a live workshop when it was just a huge undertaking. But it also was US stepping into my shifted broaden vision for what's possible for our it was just really, you know, so I feel like it's even bigger than it might seem on the surface. It was just a huge step forward and a risk, essentially, that went really well. But like practicing deep belief, and so anyway, after all of this in this past year, the thing that keeps coming up for me is equanimity. It's like a desire for lightness, and clarity and embodying like essentially embodying what I want joyous justice to represent, which is having access to joy, but also just flowing with things and being anchored in my most agile, mindful power. I'm interested to revisit that because I'm, I'll be curious if I'll get attached again, to what I wrote around just really craving lightness and in light of all the things I've learned and when I first created this, I've since developed, like, Come like finished my learning journey. Like I will continue to learn and evolve but in terms of learning core anchor practices, and embodying them and all of that stuff. And the result of that was like I need code. I need shorthand to convey all of this nuance and power that I've collected and distilled and refined and We birth the Shema process, which essentially to me hits a number of the key points that helps people build out a similar, joyous justice pathway that's their own, that maybe they would call something else. But that has the core tenants to me that I think that takes the best different pieces and facets from different parts of the world and different parts of my ancestral knowing. So a lot of transformation has happened. So now that I'm hearing you talk about this, basically, thank you, because you're encouraging me to actually give rededication to that practice a shot and noticing that actually, because I was feeling really weighed down by what it was before. And it actually might be really cool to redo and, and actually really shift it and have it be much more essential and simple. So that's exciting. So the other thing, I think there might have been two more things I wanted to name. One of them was that poster bring us back to your original premise. I think also too, in terms of rededication there was something you were saying I can't quite remember what it was. But it also made me think about just the very fractal nature of this idea of the value of rededication and how we talked about the personal and we talked about the macro and then I think a next layer out that could be helpful pragmatically for people. That also ties into some of what we teach and go into in grounded and growing and that we started to cover that we introduced in our live workshop. And these concepts are so rich that more than filled over that more than felt the time is just taking it a layer or two out. So as we are rededicating ourselves to what matters most to us and thinking about that and the stories that make us who we are, or the stories that have made us who we are and other stories that we could choose to identify either create and or identify that are right within reach with us family members who have healthier habits or friends or people around us where what are sources of inspiration, that in that rededication it might be helpful to just take it out a rung and not only make it about what we are doing, but notice that we are a part of an interconnected whole. And that while it is important for us to take compassionate, radical self responsibility, that we are influenced by different variables. And as we are doing the process of what the however that might look for us have a rededication to what matters most to us and looking over a balanced ledger of, of liabilities and assets, that we notice that there are certain influences that have that we're not so often when people do that ledger. But I just I think I think we can find a holy middle or a sacred middle between blame, and completely taking on all the onus on our own and noticing that. Ultimately, we can not necessarily overnight, but we can make choices that can get us where we want to go. And some of those choices might be reaching for community reaching for support, but that also to that we are not an island, and that it can be helpful in our rededication to notice that there are other variables whether it's systemic oppression, or old hurts or other people's pain that are impacting us and that as we engage in the rededication to account for those things not from a place of disempowerment from from from a place of awareness and mindfulness and actually empowerment around, I'm going to start to notice that this is having an influence in my life and whether or not I know what to do with it. I'm noticing in the process of rededication that this is a variable, that it's important for me to notice and perhaps get some support around and see if this time around if and that could be anything from a family member or a person or a colleague who has a certain kind of impact on us or if it's around our health and well being to notice like it's not just about rededicating me and my intention, but how does that rededication show up in my kitchen or in the place that the where I choose to place myself to best support myself. How's that landing with you? Tracy? Seems like you have thoughts.
Tracie:I was just thinking a lot about environment and how has that affects our our success or distraction from our intentions? The environment plays a major role, both positively and negatively.
April Baskin:Yeah, and I think what I'm saying is like, do you mind if I riff off of that, that in the metaphor of rededicating the temple, the temple is a Building with four walls and people come into it. But it's not like riding on the subway, it doesn't have a mother. It doesn't have children. It doesn't. It's not like when we think about rededicating ourselves and using this metaphor, it's really beautiful. But it's also helpful to notice that unlike the temple, we are mostly not stagnant. Still beings, we are organisms who are interacting with other patterns and dynamics in the world. So it's not as easy. It's not, it's it. Bowles, I think, is a really beautiful metaphor. And it can be helpful for us to remember, but it totally is doable. And it took a whole community or a group of people to rededicate the temple and that in a different sort of way, it will likely take a group of people and or a community to have backing and support for us to be successful and rededicating ourselves to whatever is important to us. I think that's what I'm trying to say.
Tracie:I like that. Yeah.
April Baskin:So did you have other thoughts? Because I potentially cut you off? No, he didn't. Okay, good. Thank you. Thank you for raising this theme. This was interesting. I liked using our minds in this way. And I hope during this season that is cold for many, not for me, but it's cooler. So
Tracie:that's really cold in Baltimore right now. It's really cold. Yeah,
April Baskin:like loads of snow, like some people anyway, like, it's just, it's a cold winter season. So during this season, you know, wishing you sweet moments of enjoying the light that we choose to bring into the darkness and noticing the power of that and noticing the potential during this winter period. That's another insight I think I might want to add about to the rededication have to take time during the slow period for us to rededicate ourselves and who that's another potential twist that I'm just going to toss in this last meet last few moments. What might be last few moments, maybe we'll get longer is that as your rededicating feel free to embrace the slowness of the season. And I wonder if part of the challenge that people experience at times with resolutions is that they try to do it with summer speed. As opposed to thinking about what Tracy saying around rededicating. And actually getting our minds and our spirits and our energy, like our embodied experience, like moving it through different parts of our being and noticing. Where am I in alignment with this and where am I not? And what do I need to rededicate myself what do I need not well, how do I need to change myself? What supports and resources do I need to do that? How
Tracie:on ramp there's no on ramp for a resolution? Right? It's like the day switches. You're supposed to be different.
April Baskin:Yeah, and we need on ramps and I
Tracie:think that's yeah, rededication doesn't
April Baskin:potentially have an on ramp it kind of is to me room. And to me it feels like it could be the on ramp itself is that the process of rededicating helps to get you into alignment it helps to get you into a place where you even have a chance to start to walk in that I love this Tracy the more I think about this the more I'm into this I've been like I've been like here's how I might apply it is that for over a year now I've gotten an I was my body was not in alignment in terms of health I was experiencing a number of different challenges and things but I've I'm in a much better place health wise and I have been for almost a year and so I finally got back to a place where I felt really ready and like my body could handle me doing strength training and I still haven't been doing it and and I want to in the next year or two do different things that might be quite physically demanding on my body. So besides just the general desire for strength training, I think it's like really pragmatic for me right now. Also it came through in like a journaling channeling exercise where they were like for everything that's coming it's important that you be in optimal physical shape. So it's I love this idea how can I think I love this idea. I really took this to me, this is the pause. Right? It's not like the rededication like that's what it is that oh, that's the cool takeaway. I love that we ended with a bang. Make sure you mentioned this in the preview. Right? It's like it's is that it's not like after this battle and all this tough stuff. They were like Okay, back to prayer. They engaged in ritual, a rich a transition ritual. That helps honor the damage, the distance and the damage and to get back intimate and proximate. too and and reorient and figure out what is my relationship to this now in this season of my life I love this and so I've been thinking about different ways that could get me over the hump from not doing strength training to doing strength training and I bought a course that looks pretty great but I think I also think that's not an IT in and of itself but I love this idea of thinking about rededication and what I need
Tracie:you know what's really interesting in both in both the fitness in the strength training and back in our you know, in the in the temple being rededicated is that the rededication happens without a promise that there will be uninterrupted you know, that resin, whatever that thing is, will be honored. Like we didn't have enough oil. Hey, they read dedicated anyway, they didn't wait until they got more oil, they didn't wait the eight days for more oil to be pressed. They lit in that they lit the lamp now. They took they took action now with what they had. And then
April Baskin:with intention, low vision, visionary action, right? Like they couldn't take that much action. They're like this is the one little thing I can do
Tracie:right now, without knowing how they're going to keep the lamp lit for the next eight days while pressing more oil. And I think that's actually a really important piece of this reading. rededication lesson is that you don't have to have it all figured out in order to light nope, in order to light the that eternal flame. And just because you don't know how you're going to keep the flame lit doesn't mean it won't stay lit. I think that was
April Baskin:part of the purpose of the value. Yeah, and that's part of the value of the rededication, right, because dedication doesn't say, doesn't mean nothing about dedication says that everything's going to be fine. There's an inherent grit, and determination and sort of like a Munna or faith. That is a part of dedication of I'm going to do my part. Like when I think of dedication, I think of like steady and consistent. And so as we think about what we need, in order to be in relationship with that, I just, I love that, because that often is the piece that is most important. It's not you know, it's the subtle alignment or lack thereof within us that can make all the difference, regardless of circumstances around whether we're going to get to a finish line or make progress or not. So here's to us engaging in. However, it makes sense to us some sort of rededication around anything, or something that feels important to us that helps us feel nourished and happy to be alive. If this makes sense for you, right? Or in the spirit of what I said earlier, it might just be noticing that we are humans, as we talked about on the live workshop, we are fancy animals, and this for many people is a season of rest. So how can we keep certain obligations and just invite in more slowness instead of fighting the snow and all the things that would otherwise have us in the cold? Actually just moving in a way that matches the season and rededicating ourselves to being in deeper relationship with one what is and not necessarily approving of it but being an acceptance and seeing what inspiration can come when we aren't in direct opposition to what is. Here's to rededication Tracy.
Tracie:Thanks for tuning in. To learn more about joyous justice LLC, our team and how you can get involved with our community. Check out the info in our show notes, or find us at joyous justice.com
April Baskin:If you enjoyed this episode, show us some love. Subscribe wherever you're listening. Tell your people share what you're learning and how your leadership is evolving. Stay humble, but not too humble.
Tracie:And keep going because the
April Baskin:future is ours to co create