Thoughts on these challenging and changing times
In this post, I’m offering you my thoughts, for what they’re worth, on trying to find balance during these changing and challenging times.
I write this in September 2020, though part of my brain still thinks it’s March, thinks there’s more of this year ahead of me than has passed, and is looking forward to seeing all the flowers in bloom in summer.
I think it’s fair to say that this pandemic and all that’s come with it are discombobulating times.
(And don’t get me started on the New Age, spiritual & wellness teachers who are riding on these confusing times to feed off people’s fear and peddle all kinds of toxic “All Lives Matter” and dangerous right-wing conspiracy theory bullshit…)
I know I’ve had it easy though.
I’ve had the privilege to be able to use the lock-down as an opportunity to reflect and re-evaluate, and write.
If you have lost anyone during this pandemic I send you my deepest heartfelt sympathies.
If you have had the virus I wish for you that your body and soul can heal fully in their own time.
If you are a key worker then I send you my humblest gratitude for the work that you do and acknowledge that all jobs require skills unique to them (and I back this up by voting for political parties who demonstrate they will uphold the NHS, value all workers from all backgrounds, and who support people in their hour of need).
No matter how you’re being affected by this pandemic – because we all have been to lesser or greater extents – I send you my love. We are all in the same storm but not in the same boat for, as we have seen, this virus brings the greatest devastation where people are living with the effects of socio-economic imbalance and injustice and to people whose health have already been compromised and to people who needed the greatest protection but were offered none.
It’s OK to be with what is
These are changing and challenging times.
So, my message for you today is: it’s OK not to feel OK.
(And it’s also OK to feel a confusing mixture of calm and agitation, joy and grief, or whatever combination of ups and downs, or even just “ups”, you may be experiencing.)
All too often we’re exhorted to improve ourselves and stop feeling bad when actually, our weariness, fear and frustration arise from the tospy-turvy world we live in.
As we approach equinox season I’ve seen a wellbeing magazine cover advertising a quiz asking “are you out of balance?” – with the implication being that you should always be in balance. Well my reaction was: “of course I’m out of balance! Aren’t we all? This world is out of kilter”.
I’m reminded of the words of Krishnamurti:
It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
It’s all too easy to pathologize our own distress and to place the burden on the individual to fix themselves.
Listen to your soul & the soul of the world
So, please don’t strain to find balance. Instead, how would it be to listen to what any sense of imbalance is trying to tell you?
What if your pain is your soul calling to you that 21st century westernized culture is no way to live?
What if your distress is a wake-up call to turn your back on the materialist over-consumption and blind groping for perpetual economic growth which is devastating the environment and destroying our habitat?
How would it be to listen for the callings of your soul instead?
Your soul-self, which is deeply connected to the web of life and all things on this beautiful, animate world we live in, is wise and whole and can never be destroyed.
The consolation of nature
As I write to you under this waning moon, and we fall into autumn here in the northern hemisphere, I’m feeling the call to release and let go what no longer serves and what no longer feels in alignment with my values and truth – to heed the call of the voice of my soul.
During these pandemic times the source of consolation which has kept me going is my connection to nature and dreaming into its healing and inspiring energies through restful meditation and sensing the loving presence of the Mother Earth – the Great Mother of us all.
As the moon has waxed and waned, as spring blossomed, summer bloomed and early autumn brings us nature’s abundance, I have been blessed and privileged to be able to stay connected the rhythm of life which continues in its mystery and beauty no matter what is happening in the affairs of daily human life.
It’s helped me to stay present with my feelings as they have waxed and waned through fear, peace, anger, frustration, acceptance, grief, excitement and loving presence.
It’s a truism that all of life is change, perhaps even a cliche, but remembering that all of life is a constant cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth can be such a source of comfort as we navigate these changing times when all that seemed constant has suddenly shifted beneath us.
Feel the earth beneath your feet – and know that the loving presence of Mother Earth is always with you and She feels your pain and is with you in your joy. You are never alone. Her presence is constant, offering strength, stability and a firm foundation upon which to rebuild.
