Time does seem to be flying by, accelerating and propelling us toward the date that has already reached mythical proportions in our time. Today, it is very rare indeed, to find someone who does not react to the notion of 2012; each in his or her own way, but react they do!
As mindful as I am today about 2012, I’ve never taken the time to stop… take a breath… and separate the threads of my own thoughts to discover what tapestry I have already woven outside of conscious awareness. I’ve not paused to discover what lies within, in the details of my hopes and fears… in the interwoven truth of fact and fiction that fleshes itself out in the expression of ‘me’ to the world. Now, it would seem, is as good a time as any.
What I know from my own experience
The planet is changing significantly and has been for some time. The difference is that now, in this time, the acceleration is palpable. I am not living ‘business as usual’ climate change – I am witnessing the culminating effects of rhythms and cycles long disrupted and now playing themselves out, moving toward new patterns and forms… new dances that represent both intensity of what was and revelations of new things that have never been.
We continue to be a species that is profoundly committed to its own seemingly mindful destruction. How else can we consider it? We know, without a doubt, the devastation that we propagate and yet we continue our lives of deep commitment to the consumption that is killing us all. For some, it is slow; and for others, it is a way of being. Either way, in our determination to stand by this way of life, we’re dead.
This spinning orb we call ‘home’ is a living, organic system… a living being. Gaia will not be used and abused without reaching a threshold that results in the roar of “ENOUGH!”…. and she will recreate herself. Am I suggesting that the planet has an intellect and reason and logic? Not on your life! That would be profoundly limiting. What I am suggesting, to be sure, is that the planet has intelligence, has mindful awareness in her rhythms and cycles and will engage to stabilize for well-being. Like a sunflower turns to the light, so Gaia will turn to whatever forces are required to recreate her lush, fecund and natural state of being.
Earth is one of many other ‘beings’/forces in a swirling dance of forces; the kind of forces that we cannot possibly imagine; the kind of forces that interact and play off each other, each pulling and tugging at the other to enter into a new game. We… human beings… have no idea how to even begin to understand let alone shape or control these forces. Regardless of what we do, the dance will go on.
The planet will not only survive but thrive. It has been here long before me and will be here long after I’m gone. In the great scheme of things, I am but a molecule in a single breath in the unfolding majesty of this living organic system that has been breathing in… and breathing out… for billions of years.
Here’s what I know about human beings: the vast majority of us who roam the planet do so without any sense of our own impact on the much, much larger whole. We are so committed to our own unique and individual interests that we are without regard for what sits under the sole of our boot that just landed on freshly overturned earth. We simply choose to walk, and walk where we choose, never stopping to think that we may have just stepped on and crushed any hope for our own future.
What I know from others
It’s not pretty – and it doesn’t look good. We have indeed, made a huge mess; and we will without a doubt reap what we have sown. In that, I refer to what we have created on the planet. I refer to the contribution that we have made to global warming and climate change. In my humble opinion, there is very little left to allow us to try to abdicate from these circumstances or absolve ourselves of responsibility for their creation. Rising temperatures; desertification; dead oceans and lakes; disappearing and polluted ground water; deforestation; toxic waste…. and on and on it goes… are now coming together in their impact to ensure that this time, we don’t miss the point! All that and I haven’t even turned an eye to what we have created in the devastation of women and children; and the brutality we have all taught, all of our sons to inflict on each other and any that stand in their way.
Smart, informed, credentialed people have been sounding the warning for dozens of years and we have chosen not to hear. The voices of many, including the likes of James Lovelock and Ervin Laszlo, have been but whispers in the wind that we may have noticed but paid no heed. Whether due to our intently focused attention on the music of our playing; or wether due to fingers jammed solidly in our own ears… the point is, we missed it. Now, it has become so large, so dense and so intense we can’t hope to miss it – even if we remain profoundly committed to our self-induced coma of mindlessness. Nero fiddles as Rome burns… and the lemmings that we are march diligently to the edge of the cliff.
The Earth cannot sustain life for 6+ billion people. Our consumption – not of flat-screen tv’s and fast cars but of earth, water and air – will not sustain infinite numbers of people, indefinitely. Politically incorrect? Probably. Frightening? Absolutely!
Astronomical events have rhythms and cycles. Solar and lunar eclipses; the turning of the seasons; the procession of the equinoxes; solar flares; electro-magnetic field fluctuations; the ebb and flow of an ice age… all of these can be counted on and yet, often not predicted and always not controlled.
I know that the conveyor belt of ocean currents keeps things moving… and movement is a sign of life. This massive yet still vulnerable force makes life possible on the planet, in different ways and in different places. It has stopped in the past and it can stop again – with devastating effect.
I know that not only is the ocean dying, in many places it has already died. Wherever its fortunes go, so go our own.
What I don’t know
I don’t know what will happen on December 21, 2012. I don’t know if there will be a pole shift that produces earth-crust displacement – even though we now have evidence of just such an event in our planetary past. I don’t know if anything at all will happen, other than the predictable alignment of earth, sun and the black hole at the center of our galaxy (known by the Maya thousands of years ago and only recently confirmed by our current science). And if/when something should happen, I don’t know what it will be, how big it will be and whether it will save us or destroy us. I do know that no matter what, it has already begun to shape us in so many ways.
I don’t know if my world… your world… will be destroyed. I don’t know if there will be massive destruction around the globe, accompanied by the death of billions of people.
I don’t know if we’re past a point of no return relative to what we have created on this planet; and I know that we don’t know how to have any impact, at all, on the interactions and interconnectivity of celestial bodies. In that, as much as I do not know how these things will unfold, I do know they will continue to do so. I also know I live here… on the planet Earth… and I will be touched by the outcome, regardless of what it is.
What amazes me!
It amazes me that I am alive at this time in history! That I will get to witness, in its expression – whether massive chaos or in the silent turning of yet another day – the living out of a day/time that has been pointed to for thousands of years. I will get to witness a celestial event that only happens once in approximately 26,000 years. How wondrous is that!!! And how honored and humbled I am to be here, at this time in Gaia’s expression.
It amazes me that I live in a place and at at time that may well offer the most incredible moments of discovery and profound experience that I have ever lived and can ever know!
It amazes me that I – like so many others at this time in history – ‘feel’ the planet… ‘feel’ Gaia and her expressions; and feel deep and unquestioning respect and honor for what is required for the planet to cleanse and replenish, beyond their concern for disruption in individual lives. How strange it is for me to meet and engage with so many who are of this mind! It is not that I do not love or care about or care for the people and experiences of my personal life; it is that I know my world is so much greater! In that, I invite… allow… and let go. And in doing so , I am not alone.
My conclusions
This is a time of great anticipation and inspiration. It is a time that invites us to be greater than we have ever been; to see through clear eyes and listen with an open heart, trusting the truth of our inner experience rather than seeking guidance and direction from any… and I mean ANY.. external force, be it religious, political, economic, social, etc. I see what I see, I hear what I hear and I know what I know… and in those and with those, I will carve out the path of my own existence.
Already, many are doing so. Many, in great numbers, are seeking to move ‘off the grid’ without losing the desire for community; without losing a mindfulness of connection to Self and each other. Many are moving away from external gods and the dogma for which they are gluttons, and are moving to an internal cue… an inner godforce.. to define who they are to become in this time. Will we allow external forces (of any kind) to shape us? Or will we seek to shape ourselves, from the inner truth to our outer world? Many others are seeking to discover how to be guided by the truth of their inner stars, knowing that outer direction cannot be relied on to get us to where we need to go… or to be who we need to become.
For me, this is a time of great, great excitement! It is a time of knowing that the awakening of which 2012 is the harbinger is already here… moving and touching us all… pressing us forward into our own awakened and mindful thoughts… that we might discover more of the truth of who and what we are.
It is a time of great hope… a hope greater than myself or my family or my individual life… offering the possibility of a new and more sustainable way of ‘being’ ourselves – in our lives, on this planet, in this time – and into the future that we will co-create.
It is a time of great respect, integrity and generosity… of great RIG… for ourselves, for each other and for the planet on which we depend for our very existence. So many have already awakened to – and so many others are in the process of awakening to – a profoundly more sacred way of being, in a secular world. It is not to trade one for the other but to discover in every breath, how they intertwine in our inseparable dance of ‘being’. It is what it is to be human.
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