The Power of Power
Tonya thinks this is going to be a fun, one guys! Reflecting back on season one and thinking of topics for season 2, I couldn't help but notice how many of our topics included the word “power” - “the power of the singing bowl” “the healing power of mantra” “the power of story” “the power of getting into nature” to be honest there were several more, and I think I even made a comment about how often that word gets thrown around in our episodes.
We know that knowledge is power, we believe in power to the people, we like a powerful clean, we should stand in our power pose, use power words in our resume & marketing, back in the 90’s Snap had us all singing, “I’ve got the power,” the hippies had Flower Power, there’s the Powers That Be in control any given situation,we each have a superpower, for some the Power of Christ compels them and of course, absolute power corrupts absolutely - so what is it about the word Power that’s so damn powerful?
Kim thinks these are great questions that Tonya is bringing up. It really makes you think about your word choices. The opposite of power is weakness, inability, and powerlessness. Perhaps looking here can broaden our view of power.
First, let's look at the many definitions of this one word. This is what makes the English language great right? One word has 9 basic definitions!!
(1): the ability to act or produce an effect
(2): the ability to get extra-base hits
(3): the capacity for being acted upon or undergoing an effect
b: legal or official authority, capacity, or right
2a: possession of control, authority, or influence over others
b: one having such power specifically: a sovereign state
c: a controlling group: establishment —often used in the phrase the powers that be
d archaic: a force of armed men
e chiefly dialectal: a large number or quantity
3a: physical might
b: mental or moral efficacy
c: political control or influence
4 powers plural: an order of angels — see the celestial hierarchy
5a: the number of times as indicated by an exponent that a number occurs as a factor in a product 5 to the third power is 125 also: the product itself 8 is a power of 2
6a: a source or means of supplying energy especially: electricity
b: motive power
c: the time rate at which work is done or energy emitted or transferred
9: the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis in a statistical test when a particular alternative hypothesis happens to be true
Whew!
After all of that, what stands out to you Kim?
Tonya feels, in the sense that we have typically used the word, we look at either the power of something - its ability to produce and effect &/or our personal power - power as an authority. Both of these to me - also carry a sense of power as ENERGY, which she thinks is really at the core of all of these definitions and how the word is used in our culture.
Wow! Now, Kim is confused. Kim thinks of personal power on an energetic level, it also makes me think of power over someone, and how absolute power is often easily abused.
Tonya shared the story of her tattoo (strength/power), love of words and what power means to me; particularly personal power - the things Tonya has control over (my responses, emotions, beliefs, etc) vs. the things Tonya doesn’t (basically all external things. Stoic philosophy.
Tonya thinks she wants to continue to use the word Power even though the rebel in me feels like it's so overused! Lol, Just something about it is powerful! ;-)
Kim believes the reason we want to overuse it is because of the opposites. With the turmoil that has been happening within our country both on our soil and abroad at war since 2011 perhaps our citizens are feeling powerlessness, inability and weakness. It is an overwhelming state. The military is testing mindfulness to train the brain so warriors can “zero the mind” for increased attention, focus and calm under extreme stress.
Maybe we can take the lead from our military and apply these tools to focus our minds. After all, our minds are very clever and the mind can be really good at sneaking and getting distracted.
Walking in your power is hard to do. It requires a ton of discipline one in which Kim struggles with. Sometimes she’s on and then other times she’s noticed that she’s stepped off the path again. Each time she notices this it is a mindful activity and gives her the opportunity to grow from it. For Kim, the song Just Do You by India Aire inspires her to find her to walk in her power.
How do you connect with power - your personal power and the things in life you consider powerful?
What does true power mean to you?
Quotes:
“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and humble.”-Yehuda Berg
“If you’re making a life-or-death decision, you want to be able to hold more things in mind- to consider more options, more avenues- before making a decision.” Major Matt Jarman
Resources:
Snap - I’ve Got The Power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BRv9wGf5pk
https://www.thoughtco.com/stoics-and-moral-philosophy-4068536