This has been a strange time for us on a global level. As someone on social media so aptly wrote “we are all the in same storm, but in different boats”. For many of us this experience has been layered, we acknowledge the breather we have given planet Earth, taking the aeroplanes from the skies, the cars from the roads and nature has been allowed to breathe and expand. And for us humans, a pause from the crazy ‘hamster wheel of life’. The rushing around, our days filled with getting done the many obligations and tasks we do on a daily basis.
We need to acknowledge here the many people whose livelihoods were taken, the toll on the global economy as we know it. The world has been turned upside down.
At the beginning of lockdown I enjoyed a gentler way of being and understood how little we really need for our day to day living. We were shown and had the opportunity of embracing a new timeline, through living a more conscious life through our awareness.
This 2020 virus outbreak has given us a pause to reflect and make decisions for our future, our personal path, the betterment for humanity on a collective level, nature and our planet (big picture). While it has been a time of reflection, many have struggled with the isolation, the future unknown. It has been challenging mentally and emotionally for us. Negotiating a new future that is not yet clear. Navigating the news, social media, polarisation, and friends and family with varying points of view and actions. Leaving all of us a little bewildered.
Physically we had to be creative with keeping active, for some it is now having the time to exercise, others have done marathons on their balconies. We have had time to bake and cook food. Read books that have been gathering dust while we were busy doing life. Many went online with their various talents.
Our mental well-being has been stretched. Emotionally we have had to face our reality, in the absence of our distractions.
With lockdown and quarantine, globally businesses and the way we work completely changed. Within days we were working productively from home - our daily meetings on various online platforms. Schooling switched to online, we had social meet-ups and watched online comedy shows. There has been a shift for my business too as many clients have transitioned from face-to-face counselling sessions to online sessions. I have been encouraged at how easily this transformation has been and how adaptable we human beings are.
As countries begin to lift lockdown restrictions, businesses and schools are opening, people are starting to venture further from home. There is social distancing, masks, sanitisers and shields. There is confusion and varying opinions at play …
When the virus hit our world, humanity willingly went into lockdown. Most of us followed authority and looked to our governments, scientists and medical professions for information and instruction.There were some unusual stories that created fear like “toilet paper running out” and people went into a frenzied panic, took to the shops and stockpiled for life. On reflection, had we gone into awareness, observed the chaos — we might have been curious as to the origins of such crazy stories.
We have been taught to hand over our authority to ‘leaders’ in their field and to rely on the ‘research, opinions, ideas’ of others. While we should use information as a guideline, we can’t lose sight of the truth that we are the authority for our own lives. So, while there are conflicting narratives and opinions, we should realise that we all need to follow our own unique authority. Be curious, ask questions and do our own research. We may find we have differing opinions or ways of being from that of our family, friends, colleagues. In our mastery, if we can tolerate our differences in religion, race, political views, gender, can we accept the differing opinions of others too? Only when we can observe, acknowledge and tolerate that each of us have a unique perspective of the world can we start toward unity consciousness.
Right now there are attacks on all narratives, outrage on individual opinions on social media. It’s a global pressure cooker. Many events are driven by the duality programme, mixed in with the fear bomb and it is a recipe for chaos. Before we had time to re-group from the virus, we were confronted and shocked by the death of George Floyd. It brought a necessary unhealed wound to the surface and highlighted the cruel, unfair and unacceptable events that take place on our planet. I’m heartened to see real issues are being addressed, such gender based violence and Black Lives Matter. My hope is with the emergence of these important issues of equality that this is leading us to a place of tolerance and acceptance for all humanity. Some people are opportunists and will use other peoples agendas to hi-jack events, such as a recent black lives matter movement protests that were infiltrated by criminals. This distracts us from the real issue and causes further divides and ‘mud slinging’. While not being so detached not to care, we need to step back from the chaos and observe what is really going on.
Even in these turbulent times, we are called upon to hold the peace and do our own self-work. We are heading toward a new timeline and will be useful to have some tools to navigate this unknown future. Be aware, observe, question and open your heart. This allows us to access our own authority and to empower ourselves.
We have little control over our environment, the events and people we encounter. What we are able to control is how we respond. When we have the tools to connect to our awareness, we can then choose to react in the chaos or respond from a place of calm.
*this was written from my ‘boat’ in the storm and I acknowledge the many differing perceptions and experiences we have each encountered on our unique path.