Within this post, ‘Our people are dying. . .’ is a candid look at Canada’s Vancouver Downtown Eastside, considered “the epicentre of the country’s opioid crisis. . . the deadly toll of fentanyl. . . laced into street drugs.”
“British Columbia has seen the highest drug-related deaths in the country.
“Last year alone, more than 4,500 Canadians died from opioid deaths.
“That’s one death every two hours.
“In the four years since the 2015 [federal] election, nearly 13,000 people have died of opioid overdoses.”
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As I gaze at the video in the article I see many of our Indigenous brothers and sisters in the throes of extreme addiction, often brought on by family patterns of childhood trauma, harkening back to Canada’s Residential School era, and before that.
James Harry, the front-line Indigenous worker, interviewed in the article says:
“Despite those deaths, the opioid crisis has not been declared a national public health emergency.
“’Our people are dying. People are dying down here. And if that’s not a public health emergency, I don’t know what is.'”
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I have been asking my self, “What can I do?”
One thing I can do is take an in-depth look at the thought patterns I carry, and forgive my self so as not contribute to the disarray, in the inter-connectedness of everything.
In my meditations, I’ve found “I’m not approved of,” “I’m not wanted or needed,” “I’m never enough,” coupled with the feelings of “hopelessness and futility.”
It has been difficult to sit still, and release the sorrow of the past from this life and past lives, and come to that place of peace and Love within, forgiveness of self knowing my worthiness and in gratitude for the life lessons.
It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done and yet the most rewarding.
Almost unconsciously, I was drawn to volunteer at a therapeutic community for young people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.
At the beginning, I didn’t realize some of these old thought patterns were running in me.
Now that I’m more conscious, I still volunteer, but with greater drive to do something to physically lift our most disenfranchised, especially the women and children, out of the Vancouver’s DTES.
We are all needed and wanted. No one is forgotten.
I Am Wanted, I Am Forgiven, no matter what
I Am Needed, I Am Worthy
I Am Love
Nova Earth is about building community, taking care of each other,
so none are left feeling separate from the whole.
~ The Law of Unification, Unity
