Amazonian fires viewed by satellite – Photo: businessinsider.com
Trust and Amazon Burning
Let’s face it: we’re all starting to feel that awful sense of impending doom starting to creep into our bellies. We’re actually, literally, standing by and watching the apocalyptic movie plot begin to unfold before our eyes – and we’re all freaking extras.
While I occasionally become overwhelmed with the magnitude of it all (and I’m including in that overwhelm my reaction to a plethora of awfulness, not ‘just’ watching the vast taiga in Siberia and the rainforest of the Amazon burn), I fundamentally do not want to stand by and stoke an attitude of hopelessness.
If I’m honest with myself, my overall drop-dead attitude and worldview is one of optimism. As long as we’re still here, we have an obligation to persevere and to do our best to make life better on this planet.
How Do We Make Things Better?
I mentioned that there’s one small act we can take on the 1stof every month, an act that joins us, collectively, with thousands of people throughout the world, using just ten drops of something called Essence of Perelandra. It’s an act that heightens the attention of many on a specific intention.
We can donate time, money, resources, and unique skills to causes that call to our hearts and help effect change or implement policies that reflect our values.
We can rage against the horrors, write to our legislators, stage protests, organize to ensure policies are in place that will keep voting from becoming a right only of the elite.
What About Trust?
Sometimes, as I’ve written about at least tangentially before, walking our talk and living a life that embraces shamanic principles demands an act of faith. Making the choice to maintain a sense of hope is one of those moments when we choose for ourselves: either I trust in something bigger than myself or I don’t.
I listened to and witnessed an important message this morning on dealing with our rage, frustrations, and sense of helplessness about the fires burning uncontrolled across our planet, but particularly in the Amazon.
It’s a video of Charles Eisenstein, and I’m sharing it because he makes a compelling argument for us to embrace TRUST – and to vigilantly do our best to take responsibility for how we choose to perceive the world and what we choose to ‘put out’ into the world .
As you may recall, living a shamanic life is all about our perceptions.
I’d like to offer this to you for your consideration this morning.
We always have the ability to refuse to give up, to embrace hope, and to trust in something larger than ourselves – while doing whatever we can to move things forward even the tiniest bit..
(T-824)
Yes, hope is essential and always a choice. I too choose to be hopeful. A great question to ask myself regularly (from Oprah Winfrey): “How can I do better by this earth that’s done so well by me?”
An excellent question to ask ourselves.
I think it’s becoming harder and harder to maintain our hope. I guess this is why I feel it’s so important to have a network of like-minded people who can accept the responsibility of reminding each other when any one of us becomes overwhelmed in the moment. We need to remember that we all don’t have to carry the load alone.