ANAHATA 

Anahata is the heart chakra. That's right guys... LOVE, and it's my FAVORITE! I know you're grossed out, but hang in there. Anahata isn't the valentines-day-sexual-commercial-love, because that stuff is absolutely gross; it literally means "unhurt, unstuck, and unbroken".  It implies balance, freedom to grow, and the direction of growth is up; it is the chakra that is supposed to connect physical reality to higher Truth with a capitol T.

I think this is how Friere saw love too. If we really want to be human, we are partially responsible for freeing ourselves, engaging in authentic dialog and taking risks to expand Truths that transform reality and personal potential. When it comes to the big picture of systematic oppression, I'm a lucky zombie most of the time; however, I can relate to times when my heart feels sad, I am stuck, hurt, or broken. It is in these moments that growth seems impossible, meaning and education seem arbitrary, and trusting the Other? Forget it, that's what credit cards, naps, and Jack-n-the-Box tacos are for.

Being raised in Springfield Missouri, in a protestant church, with protective and reclusive parents, Otherness subconsciously applies to almost everyone. This manifests in an extremely individualistic orientation. "(I) truly desire to transform the unjust order; but because of (my) background (I) believe that (I) must be the executor of the transformation." (p. 60)  Converts like me tend to "talk about the people, but they do not trust them; and trusting the people is the indispensable precondition of revolutionary change." (p.60) 

There is the balance again, being confident in the truths only you have to offer, but not so rigid that you miss opportunities to approach Truth in union with other people. Love is not giving one special snowflake a flower or sexual favors, its trusting every human to "name the world" (p. 88) and remaining unhurt, unstuck, and unbroken when they do.

#pedayogi