{"id":8694,"date":"2016-11-19T22:32:36","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T03:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?p=8694"},"modified":"2019-05-15T21:05:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T01:05:20","slug":"share-the-blanket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html","title":{"rendered":"Share the Blanket"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"blanketheart\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So much fear permeates the consciousness of the world at the moment. For an empath like me, it is palpable. I can sometimes hear the voices of those who are living in peril for their lives and safety and feel the gut-twisting terror and need to shake it off in order to function. I feel it and then attempt to offer love to\u00a0heal it. It is an\u00a0ancient and lingering energy, as old as humankind itself. Would that the prevailing mindset be ‘humankind’ instead.<\/p>\n

I sometimes contemplate what it is that has people believing that it is in any way acceptable to intentionally cause harm to another. So much damage has been done by those who think with their reptilian brain<\/a>, which is described as\u00a0having a tendency “to be somewhat rigid and compulsive.” In the case of violent behavior, it is likely to act first and then think later. As a therapist, I have heard \u00a0the adage that “Hurt people hurt people.” \u00a0I know that they need not and that multi-generational patterns can be broken since I have\u00a0abuse survivors in my personal and professional life who have made a conscious choice not to injure another. \u00a0I wonder what horrific damage was done to those who succumb to violent impulses. What shaped them? Is healing possible? \u00a0I think so, but first there needs to be a willingness and an understanding that the ‘other’ at whom they hurl their own deflected pain has the same dreams and desires that they do and wants to feel loved, as well, rather than see in them the enemy who they wish to obliterate before they can attack.<\/p>\n

I read this story yesterday and it explains so much about the ways in which people use fear to divide and conquer. Sometimes those forces don’t succeed. \u00a0NOW would be the perfect time for that.<\/p>\n

A group of Jewish Americans went to visit Israel in the sixties. There they met a well-known Rabbi who in spite of being debilitated by Parkinson\u2019s, was a great beacon of light to those around him. He addressed the group and demanded, \u201cwhat was the lesson of the Holocaust?\u201d Mostly silence ensued, followed by some awkward murmuring of \u201cnever forget\u201d and \u201calways fight.\u201d More silence.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNo!\u201d the Rabbi said, slamming his fist down on the table. \u201cWhen the Jews were in Auschwitz, the Nazis gave them one blanket per three people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did they do this? So that they would fight among themselves. So that their humanity would be stripped away.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThe lesson of the Holocaust was simple. “<\/em>Share the blanket.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It occurred to me that it was likely that some who lived in such dehumanizing conditions would huddle together for warmth, rather than fighting for a scrap of fabric. I have heard stories about people in various concentration or detainment camps all over the world, throughout time, sneaking food to others and answering with names of those who were too weak to show up for morning call and were still in their bunk so they would not be shot. Humanity in the midst of inhumanity.<\/p>\n

Viktor Frankl spoke of this in his classic, Man’s Search for Meaning.<\/a>\u00a0 “We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms \u2014 to choose one\u2019s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one\u2019s own way.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In the midst of trying times, I offer the invitation to share the blanket. We will all be warmer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  So much fear permeates the consciousness of the world at the moment. For an empath like me, it is palpable. I can sometimes hear the voices of those who are living in peril for their lives and safety and feel the gut-twisting terror and need to shake it off in order to function. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12,13,70,41,3532,19,4,32,10],"tags":[5057,3998,5056],"class_list":["post-8694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attracting-what-you-desire","category-bliss-kiss-for-your-weekend","category-blissfull-thinking","category-community","category-death","category-edie-weinstein","category-empowerment","category-inspiration","category-sharing-their-bliss","category-spirituality","tag-auschwitz","tag-mans-search-for-meaning","tag-viktor-frankl"],"yoast_head":"\nShare the Blanket - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Share the Blanket - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  So much fear permeates the consciousness of the world at the moment. For an empath like me, it is palpable. I can sometimes hear the voices of those who are living in peril for their lives and safety and feel the gut-twisting terror and need to shake it off in order to function. I…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-20T03:32:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-16T01:05:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/files\/2016\/11\/blanketheart.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdieWeinstein1\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Share the Blanket - The Bliss Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Share the Blanket - The Bliss Blog","og_description":"  So much fear permeates the consciousness of the world at the moment. For an empath like me, it is palpable. I can sometimes hear the voices of those who are living in peril for their lives and safety and feel the gut-twisting terror and need to shake it off in order to function. I…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html","og_site_name":"The Bliss Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","article_published_time":"2016-11-20T03:32:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-16T01:05:20+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/files\/2016\/11\/blanketheart.jpg"}],"author":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EdieWeinstein1","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html","name":"Share the Blanket - The Bliss Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/files\/2016\/11\/blanketheart.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-20T03:32:36+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-16T01:05:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/files\/2016\/11\/blanketheart.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/files\/2016\/11\/blanketheart.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2016\/11\/share-the-blanket.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Share the Blanket"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/","name":"The Bliss Blog","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Edie Weinstein","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386","name":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","caption":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW"},"description":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring transformational speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, editor, radio host, BLISS coach, event producer, Cosmic Concierge, the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and co-author of Embraced By the Divine: The Emerging Woman\u2019s Gateway to Power, Passion and Purpose. She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. Edie is the founder of Hug Mobsters Armed With Love, which offers FREE HUGS events on a planned and spontaneous basis. www.opti-mystical.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.opti-mystical.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","https:\/\/x.com\/EdieWeinstein1"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/author\/eweinstein"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8694"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9666,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8694\/revisions\/9666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}