It was a simple statement. One that at first glance was courteous. But on a second glance, I began to realize what it really meant.
When we left yesterday after voting, someone holding a campaign sign said thank you for voting. I was aware of feeling uncomfortable and wasn’t sure why. After sitting with this, I realized through the lens of Family Constellations, that simple statement reflected a sense of power and also exclusion.
It implies that the person saying thank you holds the responsibility, the ownership and that the person being thanked was doing them a favor.
It points to the fundamental flaw in thinking that there is a “we” and a “they” and that there is a separation between politician and voter, between party a and party b, between folks supporting X and folks opposing X.
It’s the same dynamic in a constellation when someone tries to say I am sorry or I forgive you. It points to a separation and a “bigger than energy”.
There’s nothing to fix here. Just an observation that leads me to the vision of how it will feel when we re-remember we are all connected, all equals, and the illusion of separation drops away.
Photo by Dave Dollar
