A Raucous Holy Fool’s Day to One and All!
Holy Fool’s Day
April 1 is the day to find your voice, speak your truth, and shake things up. Forget the pranks and silly antics of April Fool’s Day. Become a Holy Fool!
Each year I remind you that this is your day to speak out. Here is last year’s post to inspire ideas for the outer expression of your inner Holy Fool.
Comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell talked about the archetype of the Holy Fool. The Fool is the most dangerous person on earth, Campbell explained, the most threatening to all hierarchical institutions. He has no concern for naysayers, and no one has power over him (or her). She is not limited, not stoppable, nor controllable. She knows what she has to do and is doing it, no matter what.
A friend who was a fool for love recently became the Holy Fool and spoke her truth. She had experienced a devastating betrayal, yet instead of addressing it, she decided to take the high road and move on. Physically it worked; emotionally it didn’t. Finally she gave voice to her outrage through a well-penned letter, releasing herself from the wrenching hold of the messages of “you’re bigger than this; it doesn’t really matter; be a lady; take the high road.” Observing her pain, I suspected that taking the high road was a detour from some necessary and healing truth telling.
So, what gets your goat? (If you’re curious about that expression, I heard from Caroline Casey that goats used to be kept with race horses to keep them calm. A competitor would often “get the goat” to unsettle the horse in the hopes it would lose.)
Or, if calling back your goats doesn’t speak to you, ask yourself, “What breaks my heart?” That’s a clue to where you have something potent to say. I need only to watch the evening news to know that my calling is to support the rights of the amazing four-leggeds that walk our sacred earth. Recently when I spoke to the Hollywood crowd at GATE (Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment) about telling a better story, my friend Chris Jordan was also on the program. He showed a photo from a dismembered elephant he witnessed in Africa, butchered for its ivory tusks. The image of that beautiful trunk has haunted me. I know what breaks my heart, and it is a touchstone to what I choose to support. From that magnificent elephant to the little prairie dogs in Santa Fe, scurrying around in their spring frenzy, they break my heart open.
So, yes, call your goat back, gird your loins, and express what’s in your heart. Psychologist Dr.Margaret Paul reminds us that outrage is far more healing than anger. Anger can be used to remain stuck in being a victim while outrage is the response of a true loving adult to injustice. Outrage comes from our essence and motivates us to take loving action, while anger is an ego response that keeps us stuck in blame and powerlessness. (p. 150, Transformational Speaking).
Rumi reminds us:
Forget safety
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.
So today, once again, I am Calling All Voices. Your Holy-Foolishness is needed to bring healing and wholeness to our world. Please respond and let us know what you’re up to!
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