​Here's why I stand by #CancelCanadaDay:

I've been doing quite a bit of research on colonization and the relationship between our contemporary 'developed world' and the tribal culture of both the indigenous population in North and South America (as well as around the world - Africa, India, Asia.. you name it, the colonization of tribal people happened there). And so.. it happened to all of us in the sense that the experience of genocide and / or slavery happened to our ancestors and there was a process of reconditioning, assimilation and the burying of trauma (ancestral trauma). Further to this the new paradigm (which continues today) was hierarchical and fear based, at its foundation.

And so here we are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years later tethering to a flag and what is overtly and unequivocally an 'institution' - namely a 'centralized government' - ie a group of people who govern others who 'they do not know', which is the foundational issue. 'Canada' is a construct of government and systemic power structures based on control that ostensibly serve the 'best interests' of the nation but even if the government is working and honest, they can only serve the majority in an external capacity, never the inner world of the many, certainly not the inner world of each individual within each and every community. And so, in a way, we become like pigs at a trough with our own external needs at the forefront of our minds. Fighting either physically or verbally for 'our fair share' or even, at times, for compassion over survival, dismissing one groups trauma and pain in order to prioritize another's strife and neglect (often from our own place of hierarchical privilege, or 'ivory tower').

We buy land that does not belong to us even if we 'own it' and we subscribe to a colonial paradigm governed by an institution that does not know us individually and so has to treat us like a 'herd'. There is no way around this in my mind. We are very much still aligning with colonial or post-tribal values and ostensibly still 'all' slaves to a colonial construct (in a way). Public schools, religions, the government of Canada, and corporations are all 'institutions' that speak to the 'herd' or congregation and our deeper interests are not sought out or encouraged or 'seen' in this framework (which doesn't mean we throw out the teachings of Christ and the Buddha or the many masks of Hinduism with the bath water, but we do throw out any reverence toward group-think or guilt tactics).

Ironically, the indigenous or tribal people have a framework through mentorship, eldership, and, when thriving, 'community continuity' (a very important term I've recently learned) whose basis is individuation or self-actualization with deep trust (since there is overt 'spiritual' and 'ancestor' guidance at work) in the belief that individuation is aligned with 'community continuity' or 'community-actualization'. This 'potential' simply is not possibly when we tether to institutions and / ideologies as opposed to Elders and a community that will support us through crisis and individuation. Further to this, give the individual back their deepest and most authentic way of being and they will begin to recognize that the external 'divisive' orientation that they are used to ("I despise Trump!" "I piss on Liberals!" "I hate feminists!" "I loath white supremasists!") is based on ancestral trauma. Heal the ancestral trauma (by returning to teachings of "Spirit" and "the land") and individuals begin to look to elders and mentors for guidance and lose interest in the expectations of centralized governments as well as GDP (gross domestic product). If we heal, our colonial construct will collapse and it will be a difficult transition (hence the overt resistance to healing that is pervasive in our culture). But it's simply the way forward. It seems to be our collective future (imho).

​And so back to Canada Day... I like the notion of #CancelCanadaDay because it speaks to the legacy of trauma that plagues each and every one of us. I say let's find our footing and orientation and reasons to connect and celebrate life and our connection to God / Spirit / Creation without a centralized government and without any institutions who speak to a congregation. But let's take care of the people in our neighborhoods and in our communities who are suffering before we consider unifying in this celebratory way. Today, this Canada Day, for me, is not a day to celebrate simply because it is too soon. Of course, we can only know if we are ready to celebrate from the deepest beacon of truth we all carry as a birthright: our own hearts.