A 3-part interview by Katie Elliott
(We’ll publish part 3 of this fascinating and inspiring interview soon… Keep your eyes out! And click here to read part 1, which was published on 3/30/09.)
Katie: In spiritual circles there are often those who believe it’s not a good idea to focus on the “dark side” of things, whether it be their environments, their lives in general, etc., with the reasoning that focusing on the more “negative” aspects will draw such aspects into one’s own life. Since you can’t do as much service as you do without dealing with hard issues, can you address this way of thinking?
SEANE: I’ve heard that perception before, I just don’t personally relate to it. To understand the light I’ve had to also understand and respect the power of the shadow. It is the flip side of the same coin.
Everyone has obsession and jealousy, anger, hate, judgment, blame and all those negative perceptions, and if you don’t acknowledge them and you repress them, they come out in other ways. I look at a culture of shutdown and denial and an unwillingness to go towards the darkness as though the shadow is something to be ashamed of. It’s when I can understand and respect the power of the shadow in me that I can hold that same shadow for someone else without resisting it or judging it. To me that’s what empathy is.
My quest has always been to move towards that which scares me or threatens me because then I know that I am not running away from the depths of my own soul and so it’s like those sayings: if you spot it, you got it, or that which you resist, persists. So for the work that I want to do in the world, especially working with at risk youth, you’re dealing with shadow. You’re dealing with people who have been abused, who do drugs, who do not have tools, who are using their anger as a way of either suppression or protection and if I really want to be effective, I have to be able to relate. I have to be able to get it and I know what it’s like. I’m all about supporting the journey no matter what is revealed because it’s karmic, it’s all soulful and it’s ultimately all God.
If I didn’t have yoga and prayer and therapy and good communication with my friends and family I couldn’t do this. If I didn’t eat well, get enough rest… it has to be sustainable for me as an individual and I know my circumstance is a little more extreme, but this goes for anyone getting involved in service on any level including raising their own children which is probably the greatest service and most complicated service you could possibly do. But if you’re not taking care and nourishing yourself, body, mind and spirit, then you cannot truly be present for another human being in a way that is healthy and therefore sustainable.
…to be continued…
**Note from Katie: After learning more about Seane and the work she does, I’ve been inspired to participate in the SEVA challenge. To learn more about the SEVA challenge, click here or keep checking the Drishti blog for the continuation of this interview that I conducted with Seane.
If you would like to make a donation in my name, I’d be honored to represent you in Uganda (the next SEVA destination) in February of 2009. You can donate here:
(Please note that there is a place to scroll through to select the name of the participant you are supporting)
Or you can mail a check made out to The ENGAGE Network. Please include the name of the participant in the memo line and send to:
The Bleeping Herald, 1482 E Valley Rd. Ste 212, Montecito, CA 93108.
If you’d like to participate in the SEVA challenge yourself, Sign Up today and with a little bit of fundraising ingenuity and some major elbow grease, I’ll see you in Uganda!
Thank you! –Katie Elliott
