Embracing the Chaos
I sat in the chilly air to drink my coffee and listen. A morning ritual of connecting with my Ancestors and the Spirits of the land. Today things feel different as I experience the social unrest. I hear the pain, it is palpable in the air and I can feel it in my heart. I have witnessed being sad, anxious and strangely excited by it all. I closed my eyes and heard “Embrace the Chaos” along with the birds and the breeze.
In my mind's eye I was shown a pool of blood. Unresolved wounds from our past asking to be healed. What we are experiencing is natural. A response to an imbalance and lack of respect that has been lingering with us for centuries. Nature will always find a way to come correct and balance the scales. I find it eye opening where my mind goes. Attachment to how the city that I call home has been vandalized, it won’t be as beautiful as I have grown accustomed to. Its wrapping paper and bow have been ripped to pieces and I see myself judging it. More concerned with my comfort then what is actually being expressed. I see myself justifying my feelings by sympathising with the small business owners that must now deal with the aftermath. I have become comfortable with the growth that this city has made, the prosperity it exhibits and the opportunities it provides. Funny I don’t see this chapter as growth right away.
Being more concerned with the comfort and beauty is part of the issue and I can take responsibility for that. As I dive a little deeper it is connected to what is being called white privilege. I can recognize that. I don’t know what it’s like to be a person of color in this country. It hasn’t been my path to experience that in this lifetime. There is no doubt I can’t even begin to fully comprehend the pain of those that have experienced prejudice, genocide, bigotry, or the theft of my culture and sacred lands. I am by today's standard very privileged and I’m clearly white. It totally fits. It isn’t my story to carry shame about who I am or where I come from. I don’t and I won’t. However, I do realize that it means there are things I don’t comprehend.
As I received this insight I also understood that for me to judge any part of what is happening would be to feed the original issue, the illusion of separation. Every one of the people that has taken to the streets in protest is me. Every looter that has stolen and smashed windows is me. Every cop that has protected or killed is me. Every leader that has failed or successfully led their nation is me. For me to judge any of it is to judge myself. We are seeing what has been bubbling under the surface for as long as we can remember. This is the perfect storm. All the ideal circumstances to create enough pressure for everyone to finally decide enough is enough. I honor what is happening and offer gratitude as it is what it is.
My story is that we can’t be on the wrong path, it’s impossible. It may not look the way we want and it may not be comfortable to see what we have brought into reality but we made this. All of us. Finger pointing and blaming will only create more of what we are resisting. If that is what we choose that is our choice and is fine. It seems we are asking for something different as a collective. However, too get a different result we must take a different action. What if we embraced what is happening with compassionate courage? What if we took responsibility for our part in supporting the story of separation no matter how justified we may have felt it was or is? Of course, you are welcome to throw this directly into the trash. But what if you didn’t?
Photo by Audrey M Sheldon
My intention is to hold safe and sacred space to honor what is. To take responsibility for my part. Surrender to it. Look at it. See it. Feel it. Allow the heat of the flames and not walk away. My intention is to hold space for our collective highest and best, for a return to ourselves and remembering that we are all connected to each other and to the land. I play the drum, I burn the sage, I put my hands in the earth and I listen to the hearts of those that confide in me. I offer light and encouragement as well as a bit of hard truth when needed. The world needs each of us to hold a space large enough and powerful enough for all that is happening for the collective to evolve. We are ready to shift. Can you feel it? Now is the time.
As Healers and Shamans I believe we are being asked to allow the chaos without judgement. It is our responsibility to our communities and ourselves to navigate in the darkness without fear. This is what we have been preparing for. To truly let go of our opinions and see the suffering that is being expressed in the world. A world acting from wounding and trauma. We are being asked to witness it. To listen to it. To allow it. And to love it unconditionally as it does what it must to find the path to wholeness. This requires something big. It means dropping all the reasons why we feel justified to forget everything we know at a time when that wisdom is needed the most.
If you come away from this offended, forgive me. Forget you ever read this article and keep moving. Those that resonate with me, listen to your heart and do what you do.
Sending Prayers to us all for liberation from suffering and separation. Thank you for taking the time to read this post.