White Privilege and Hygge in America

A faith-informed perspective of wellbeing and self-care

Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash

Lately, I’ve been suffering from a bit of a white male guilt complex. You know, with the mass shootings, racial fervor, anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the church, etc. — all driven largely by white (male) nationalism.

I know that hatred and prejudice aren’t exclusive to white people. But in this country, our power structures and cultural currents move to favor white individualism and capitalism. I’m not saying that all white people are evil and I’m not saying that all capitalism is evil. But it’s obvious that we have a problem in this country with the harmful effects of our imperialism and colonialism showing around the world.

It used to be so easy to write about well-being. In the first season or two of this blog, it was my main entree. In my past non-religious spiritual tradition, we were definitely open and accepting of people of color and those who identified as LGBTQ+. But when it came to naming the suffering in the world at a detailed level, we much preferred to spiritually override it. When it came to sickness or poverty, we’d place the responsibility on the one who was suffering and would help them “align their thoughts with the Mind of God” so that they’d “attract” wealth, health, or whatever else they were “lacking”. The sufferer was…