Neither I – nor anyone else – will talk you into or out of your commitment to what you believe. That profound and life-altering level of change can only come from within you. What I am doing here is pointing to higher-order intentions that direct it all… most (and I mean most) of which you are oblivious to. Why? Because you’ve been trained to be oblivious to it… and deeply afraid to question its validity in your life.
My interest is not to struggle with the Environment/Behaviour catastrophe of the moment (i.e. climate, covid, mRNA jabs, wars, transhumanism, bugs, etc.) but to look up…. look up to our much greater potential and capabilities … and choose HOW we make our choices. Not from history or habit; not from fear; not from the press of the moment… but from a mindful and intentional movement toward who we WANT to become. From there, we choose and act accordingly…. whatever it takes.
Finding the courage… the daring and the willingness and the stamina to withstand the press of the great and nameless collective… demands that we find the edges of who we are and press forward into a greater expansion of our potential.
It is our edges that define us. Without edges, we would not be recognizable as different or distinct from our environments. Without edges, we would blend into our surroundings … disappear … become part of something else and no longer be who we are.
It is the edges of things … a picture, an apple, a car … that allow things to be separate, one thing from another; that allow for individuation. Without edges, there is only one thing, with all else having been subsumed into that mass.
It is also the edges of things that cause them to stand separate and alone. It is the edges that say this is one, and that is another. It is the edges that allow us to stand out in a pack; to be seen as NOT something else, even if seen as part of a larger whole.
Without edges, we find ourselves drifting – undistinguishable – in a sea of the undistinguished. Faceless, we disappear and become irrelevant beyond our usefulness to a nameless collective, as fodder for its intentions.
Have you lost your edge?
For some, there is safety in disappearing … in being without an edge. Without an edge, it becomes much more difficult to find you … to distinguish you from any another. And truth is, if you can’t be found, can’t be singled out, can’t be seen, it is much more difficult to hurt you; to isolate you; to point a finger at you and draw attention to you as different from the pack. Sometimes, it is easier to be like everyone else (without an edge) than it is to stand separate, visible and alone.
Edges come in all shapes and sizes; textures and styles; degrees of density and intensity. The edge of what is ‘apple’ would be very different from the edge of what we know as ‘galaxy’. Edges can be on the outside … or on the inside. They can define and shape something in physical space and time, or they can define and shape something at much deeper levels of awareness … at the levels of who we are … and can shape our identity. Not just who we believe ourselves to be, but who we believe ourselves to be capable of becoming.
Before we can allow our edges to change shape, we must first be willing to let go of what is already there. Sometimes, what’s already there is no edge, at all.
Think of it in terms of the notions of Crucible and Spear. The Crucible is a container for something other than itself. Its very shape is designed to hold something outside of itself … receive something other than itself. It’s purpose is to be the safe place within which other(s) come together to change and shape and reshape, trusting that the vessel will hold. The intensity of purpose of the Crucible is in its capacity for volume of material; the resourcefulness of its composition; and the strength of its sides.
The Spear, on the other hand, is not intended to hold anything. It is intended to penetrate … to pierce … to move through. It is intended to cleave. Its shape is designed to move through things, to move into and separate in some way. The Spear is designed to move forward; to break down or break through or break up. It is intended to be sharp and aggravate an existing form/structure. The intensity of capacity of the Spear is in ease of handling; the strength of its composition; and in its ability to penetrate. It is the small point of a wedge that enters… perpetrates a deep wound to the status quo… and reshapes for possibility.
The Crucible speaks of notions of holding; nurturing; protecting; allowing for things to unfold without acting directly on the things themselves. The Spear calls up notions of aggression… of sharp and intentional movement forward and into; taking action; shaping and reshaping that which it touches; an active intervention. In our lives, far too often we have felt the need to choose one at the cost of the other. Far too often, in order ‘to do the right thing’ or be acceptable to the generation from which we came or even the generation that we spawned, we have allowed ourselves to become locked in to one way of being or another.
It may be that we’ve forgotten – or it may be that we never knew – that both Crucible and Spear have edges. Not only are we not required to choose, we have access to both as well as the capacity to shift easily from one to the other, depending on what we choose to create in our lives and in the lives of those we touch.
Consider for a moment that Crucible and Spear are not separate things but more like the back and the front of the same hand. Depending on what you want to create, your arm rises, extends … .fingers uncurling … reaching out … an open hand … unfolding to allow for you to receive. Another time, what is required is that when your arm moves, your hand comes up, takes the shape of a fist … .hand raised high, propelled by the momentum of your arm and the thrust of your shoulder. Same hand, different intentions and yet the same force moving in a different way.
Without knowing what we want, we do not know what edge to present to the world … if any edge, at all. Without the ability to define for ourselves what we are willing to do and not willing to do, we can be sure that someone else will define it for us. If we do not know what we stand for, it is one of life’s promises that we will become the resources for the expression of someone else’s dream. Who’s dreams are you living? Who’s intentions are you fulfilling? Are you the Wind or the leaf that moves at its mercy?
As you move into your future, one day at a time, you may want to begin to pay attention to your edges. Where are they? When was the last time you looked? Do you choose your responses or have they become habits that you no longer notice? Do you allow your edges to be seen by others, or do you pretend that they aren’t there? How do they serve you ? How far do you have to be pressed before they become visible to anyone else? How frequently do you allow yourself to engage one at the expense of the other, out of habit or fear of reprisal? What would/could your life be like if you allowed yourself to be both Crucible and Spear, as the need arose?
Today’s world not only requires but demands that we find that edge and dare express from it. The pressure for compliance and conformity is intentional in its efforts to propel us into a faceless, nameless mass… willing to be shaped and driven by forces greater than our own determination to draw a line in the sand. The problem is: what we allow today will become the expectation for our children and grandchildren, tomorrow. The oxen yoke we passively accept will become our legacy…. and their burden to bear, for their lifetime.