evolution

Strategically Holding Space – Day 586

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Nighttime Messenger – Photo: L. Weikel

Strategically Holding Space

There’s so much happening in the cosmos this weekend. Well, not just this weekend; we’re not out of the thick of things for quite a while, actually. But this weekend feels huge to me, and the best recommendation I can make (that I will be following as well) is that we engage in strategically holding space. We must hold this space for each other and ourselves. Our country and our planet.

There’s no other way to describe what’s happening in the U.S. right now but to say we’re being bombarded. Information, revelations, lies, conspiracy theories, a pandemic, isolation, fear, sickness, death. We’re being confronted with irrefutable proof that people of color do not share the same freedoms as white people. And we’re seeing a huge majority of our brothers and sisters (or perhaps for a lot of us, our sons and daughters) stand up and say, “The system is broken. It doesn’t stand for what we’ve been taught it does and we won’t pretend or allow it to persist any longer.”

Some of us will join in the protests continuing to unfold all across our nation in support of Black Lives Matter. Some of us will lend our support in other ways. Each as they are able, as they say. But as we witness injustice, as we begin to see with clear eyes the ugly parts of our history that have conveniently been left out of most of our educations, I do believe we will unite to create the ideal we all, deep down, want to believe is possible.

New Moon

We have so many indicators of a new paradigm coming to the fore, and a new moon (coupled with all the other major aspects) is, as we know, the time to set in motion the dream we wish to manifest.

As a result, I feel in my heart and soul that we are also being confronted with radical hope. Deep within our souls, thousands – perhaps millions – of people of all skin pigmentations are resonating with a seismic shift that will change our country forever.

Perhaps, just maybe, we are witnessing the birth of a new world.

Opossum Reminds Us

This opossum was just visiting me only minutes before I sat down to write this post tonight. I felt like its appearance was fortuitous. It’s urging us to use strategy to accomplish the change we demand. We need to expect the unexpected; be clever in seeking our goals. And above all, we’re being reminded to use our brains and sense of drama and cleverness to change the world.

We don’t need to stoop to the level of violence. We’re smarter than that. All of us.

We need to strategically hold space for each other to get this done. We can do this. It’s time. Time for an evolution.

A Heart in the Center of the Fire – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-525)

Initiation – Day 491

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Tree Gnome/Wisdomkeeper – Photo: L. Weikel

Initiation

We are entering a time in our evolution, as humans, in which we are facing some fundamental, existential choices. And this ‘time’ that we’re entering is not some epoch or age, some grander than our mortal lives massive measurement of time. No. We are in the initiation. The existential questions are being asked now. Right now. Right in the midst of our tiny, very tangible and measurable lifetimes.

I’ve mentioned before as this pandemic started looming on the horizon (before it was even characterized as a pandemic) that I sensed some major shifts in our reality coming toward us. Shifts that make us realize that the course we’ve been following not only is unsustainable but has hit a wall. Shifts that tell us, “Nothing is going to be the same.”

Self-Inflicted 9/11

In some ways, we might look upon what’s happening as a self-inflicted 9/11. When the United States was attacked by those three hijackings that gorgeous, azure-skied September morning, and we watched the twin towers crumble before our eyes, we knew instinctively that nothing would ever be the same.

And yet…in many ways, we humans resumed our blind and tone-deaf ways. While the world stood with all of us in the U.S. in the days and weeks following 9/11, eventually we – our government, our leaders – turned those events into the perfect justification to not only continue on our selfish, unsustainable path of war and greed and abuse of power, but to double down on it.

Greed Unchecked

Indeed, our selfishness and greed roared back to life, seatbelts or restraints on behavior that could easily get out of hand were removed. Everyone in the U.S. celebrated the amazing recovery we were enjoying, not a little bit funded by the seemingly never-ended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, neither of which had anything to do with the 9/11 attacks, which supposedly justified them in the first place.

And then the 2008 financial debacle happened.

That, too, was going to change everything.

It didn’t.

Not only didn’t our over-consumptive, unsustainable, greedy ways continue. No, we flouted the existence of climate change. We pursued fracking here in the United States, a process of injecting unbelievably toxic materials into Mother Earth all in the pursuit, not only of unsustainable energy to burn but also money to burn. Climate effects be damned.

Out of Balance

All of these opportunities to make choices on how we are going to proceed in our evolution (or not), have resulted in us making choices that have caused us to grow more and more out of balance with everything else on this planet, including the planet herself.

The virus we’re facing right now is ravaging our species – all over the world, without care of nationality, skin color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation – because we have no natural immunity to it. And because we’ve lied to ourselves and willingly swallowed the lies being told to us. In order to deal with all of this, without losing massive numbers of our own, we must work together.

So far, our reaction, the reaction of the United States, has been barreling along on the trajectory we seem to have been following for many years, but most especially since entering this century.

We can still turn this around. But we need to do it now. We need to take to heart this dramatic, unprecedented challenge to what we think of as our lives and our societies and make some drastically different choices.

A Wonderful Perspective

I recommend this lovely thought-provoking piece as a completely different way of looking at what we’re experiencing right now. I, for one, would love to continue reflecting upon the questions posed here as the days, weeks, and months of this new life of ours unfolds.

Let’s reflect together.

Hopefully where we’re headed – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-620)

Mercury Rx – Day 122

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Mercury Retrograde (Rx)

I had a nice start on a post tonight and just deleted it.

It was an incipient riff on all the glitches, slow-downs, and common irritations I’ve been experiencing on my laptops over the past few days, but especially today.

It’s no big deal, or rather, these hiccups shouldn’t and wouldn’t be all that remarkable except for the fact that I am achingly tired this evening.  As in, I can barely keep my eyes open as I try to write this quality tired.

March 6th – March 28th, 2019

Of course, anyone who is familiar with astrology would chime in that these glitchy annoyances are associated with the fact that “Mercury is retrograde.” As I described in my post a week ago, it is said that when Mercury goes retrograde, communications are often hung up, misunderstood, confused, or delayed, electronic devices tend to break or ‘go on the fritz,’ and it’s generally thought of as an inauspicious time to either buy electronic stuff or enter into contracts.

The reason behind this is that the planet Mercury is associated with communication and electronics. So when it is retrograde (which means the planet appears to be going backward in its orbit from the perspective of Earth), the attributes Mercury usually promotes tend to go awry.

I’ve never tracked this closely in my personal life, but I try to keep it in the back of my mind, simply as a form of cosmic good hygiene. And you may recall, I did have a bout of intense aggravation during the last Mercury Rx with my Dell laptop (resulting in my decision to use my MacBook Air for all posts since)!

If I can postpone buying an electronic item during the approximate three weeks that this astronomical situation takes place (three or four times a year, I believe), then I do so. I also try not to sign contracts unless it’s absolutely necessary, and bearing in mind the potentially cantankerous effects Mercury Rx can have on electronics in general, I tryto laugh when stuff randomly stops or slows to a snail’s pace. Or blips out. I’ll admit it: I said try. I didn’t say I’m successful.

Effect of My Weekend Reflections

A recommended strategy to deal with Mercury Rx is to focus on such activities as reviewing, revisiting, editing, and reflecting, instead of moving forward with new projects or initiating big changes. So I find it intriguing that I ended up engaging in the ‘reflections’ I did over the weekend. They were big for me. And I really feel like the act of expressing them ‘to the world,’ in a sense, liberated me.

For myself, that meant that I finally felt ready to move on to digging into reflections of another sort. I haven’t yet had a chance to perform this contemplation in the manner that I’d hoped because other people were engaging in their own re-enactment of dramas from years and years ago, and these happened to affect me personally.

Spiral of Evolution and Growth

As a result, I’ve been distracted. But I like to describe this process of facing the issues that come back to push our buttons again not as living life in a circle, but rather in a spiral. Being given an opportunity to deal with an issue again is like being given an opportunity for a ‘do over.’ The most practical approach to this spiral metaphor is to realize that we don’t go around in circles. Hopefully, we’ve raised our expression of our energy high enough that we approach the problem from a slightly, or perhaps greatly, shifted point of view.

Thus, we (hopefully) never repeat the exact same response to a challenge or an issue. We’ve evolved (again, hopefully). And so we’re given another bite at the apple; or looked at another way, another chance to choose a higher octave of response to our situation.

It feels as though I’ve been ‘holding space’ for a number of people, myself included, to experience this upward spiral toward growth.

As a result, I am in extraordinary need of reviewing and realigning myself with the comfort and wisdom of a clean set of sheets, the backs of my eyelids, and a long night of sleep.

There are some good stories brewing. I just have to watch some of them play out before I tell them.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I hope your personal reflections are yielding powerful insights and affirming the evolution we all hope to see and feel in our lives.

Rooting and Reflecting; Photo: L. Weikel

(T-989)

 

Tradition and Evolution – Day Forty Four

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Tradition and Evolution

Overall, this Christmas was a grand experiment in shifting from one way of being to another. It felt like we were embarking upon a true transition from ‘the way we’ve always done things’ to ‘a new way.’ Just like any transition, it had its rough patches.

I’d say most of that evolution centered around the family ‘meal,’ which is probably where the vast majority of ‘tradition’ resides in many households.

Most of us in the family eat meat, but rarely. Others of us, however, eat meat never. And then there are those of us who not only don’t eat meat at all, but also do not eat anything even remotely associated with animals. No butter. No milk. No cheese. No eggs. Yes, there’s now a vegan in our midst.

Turkey Sandwiches Remain a Priority

We checked in before the holiday, and determined that turkey was still a hoped-for agenda item with those of us who still appreciate the sacrifices of our feathered brethren. Truth be told, it’s the turkey sandwiches on the horizon that are the real lure here. Piled high with stuffing savory and juicy from cooking in the bird, the turkey slices will nestle between a layer of cranberry sauce and mayonnaise, all held together with a multi-grain, seeded bread. Oooh yeah.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for those who no longer (or never did) enjoy the unparalleled goodness of leftover turkey sandwiches. But alas, that means there’s more for us who pander to our inner Neanderthal. (Which, parenthetically, 23andme tells me is part of my genetic makeup.) (Yeah, it explains a LOT.)

I have to admit, though, in preparing the mashed potatoes both the ‘old’ way and the ‘new,’ the difference would be something I could evolve toward. I’d miss the buttermilk and butter. But it could work.

The green bean casserole without the mushroom soup? Satisfied my vegan but not my vegetarian. I don’t know if I can make that leap yet either.

At Least My Stuffing Is Vegetarian-Approved

My stuffing is vegetarian-approved even when prepared as history dictates. It’s just the portion that cooks inside the bird that’s taboo. So that’s an easy compromise: that especially juicy stuffing can go on my turkey sandwich; thanks.

All, in all, though, I probably could have stepped up my game as far as the ‘protein’ I prepared for my ‘Vs.’ I thought sautéing some vegan sausages with onions and red peppers would make a nice addition to the stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans, but the expressions on their faces said, “Meh.”

I’ll work on that for next year.

And who knows? As our lives evolve and we witness the cataclysmic results of accelerating climate change day in and day out, it would not be outside the realm of possibility to imagine us going at least totally vegetarian by next year. Probably not vegan; not yet.

Although, I suppose, stranger things have happened.

As a family, we’re game to honor and appreciate our traditions while also exploring ways we can evolve and expand the way we walk forward into the future.

All that really matters is that we do it together.

(T-1067)