39. The Knowing Inside

We have everything within us to make good decisions and follow a good path, and we can do this even when we’re young. It’s not what I learned among my own people, but it’s what Abraham Maslow learned among the Blackfoot early in his career. Today we listen to Indigenous voices, who talk about knowing from within, or “sovereignty of mind.” And we look at the long habit in Western history of defining knowledge instead as what is handed down from external authorities—an age-old habit that feeds the rise of authoritarianism today. What does it take to cultivate that quiet place inside, the place of discernment in the heart? How do we find sovereignty of mind? A moment from my own life when I took a step toward reuniting with my own heart.

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