The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I originally wrote this July 29, 2020. Almost three years ago… and yet, at some level, feels like a lifetime ago. Stop, for a moment, and consider what has unfolded in your life… your reality… over these last three years. And sadly, it’s not over, yet – there is much more to come.
Despite all that can so easily draw us away from ourselves, the mindful and intentional pause IS the gateway to a recognition and reclamation of our own power to shape the world we choose to define. As much as main-stream/legacy media, government, politicians, etc. may choose to tell you otherwise, you – at your very core – remain your own best hope.
Today, I share this with you that you might remember who and what you are; that you might choose that mindful and intentional pause… and listen to that inner voice that is both invitational and insistent; that you might remember who you’re capable of becoming and in so doing, define the path you walk. Turn off the droning, mind-numbing voices outside of you that seek to blind you to your own ability and, instead, pause… and simply be in the silence.
Do not be surprised if, when so doing, you feel wave after wave of fatigue… grief… sadness…. frustration…loss. Do not be surprised if, when your body settles, you know something that you have been hiding from yourself: you are the only One who can free yourSelf into your daily choices. And without that, all you have left is mindless habituation and dependence on an external force.
The choice is always yours to make.
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Today, I am at peace.
Having chosen to live in quiet surroundings (well… most of the time…), I enjoy the many moments of my day when I become aware of an inner cue. (I am grateful that, in such truly turbulent times, I can still notice them; that my own ‘listening’ is not yet drowned out from the constant dump of drama and angst that we are so encouraged to embrace.) Although rarely sufficiently dramatic to warrant some immediate action, they are always deeply meaningful to and relevant to some subtle twist in an unfolding moment; a reminder of something known or an invitation for discovery, tucked behind the familiar, repeating patterns of my life. When I pay attention… when I remember that the ultimate quality of my Life is a tapestry woven of the many choices made… all goes well.
And then, there are the moments when I forget.
I am at my most forgetful when I allow myself to be sucked into the turmoil of the ‘out there’ aspects of my Life. When I find myself drawn to the agitations and irritations of others; to main stream media and its steady, 24/7 diet of fear and angst and misery. When I feed my mind (where all trouble starts) a constant stream of the possibilities as defined and shaped by others… by someone – anyone! – who is not me. In those moments, I remind myself that if my life is to be truly my own… if my life is to be a reflection of the choices that are meaningful for and relevant to the whole, unique and essential Being that I am… I must return to the stillness that awaits… inside… where I live. From there, I know I can and will choose wisely, for myself.
We are living in a place, at a time, where we must choose wisely those whose thoughts are permitted to intermingle freely with our own. When all is mind, thoughts are the conduits that allow for energy and matter to take shape. It is a personal preference for me to no longer listen to the voices that speak for streams of authority. I remain fascinated by the clarion call that any expert (i.e. highly credentialed, highly experienced, highly skilled, etc) who speaks to other than only strategies for embracing deep fear, is considered an expression of some conspiracy theory. The accusation that the voices of those who know far beyond the status quo in both depth and breadth of constructs that expand our thinking into the context within which our humanness plays a significant part in our outcomes, are preaching doom and misrepresenting what will keep us safe and alive! Imagine! The insolence of suggesting that we are only creatures of matter…. leaving so much of who and what we are to languish, without willingness or ability to contribute to our own wellbeing. That has long not held water with me.
There are many whose voices I trust; whose larger constructs of mind lead to consideration of far more powerful directions to consider when contemplating our way forward. Many of them have appeared in this blog. They are included as an invitation for you to consider what you might not yet have discovered is equally true, equally valid and potentially, far more life-enhancing than what is on offer from our too-long-trusted political and governmental officials; included as an invitation to press the edges of your own limitations. Some of these voices are long-trusted (Bruce Lipton, Gregg Braden, William Brown) and some are new (Zach Bush, Rosa Koire); and all of these voices offer the potential of what might come were we to pause… take a breath… and allow our own, deep, internal truth to form part of what is intuitive to our Essential Being.
Fear is the mind killer… and when all is mind, we need to be vigilant to whose (other) ’truth’ we surrender the essential one, of our own. Once done, it is very difficult to reclaim. And once done in collective, our path is set… with the destination having been chosen for us by some other. Thanks! I’ll pass.
For now, I’m done. There are other threads that I know are dangling in my consciousness, that cry out for integration into a larger weave. I’ll let them sit for a bit and see where they take me. Perhaps, in your own life, there are threads dangling in your consciousness that do not fit easily or well into the tapestry that is being presented as your future. What I’ve learned is that although I may not need to attend to them immediately and force them into silence, I am wise to ensure they do not leave my mindfulness. I have learned, over time, that each carries its own potential if/when I am willing to simply consider….