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Are you a Holiday Dreamer?
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one…
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one…
~John Lennon
Imagine |
I’ve heard from so many who are deeply and rightly blown away by the current state of affairs in our world right now. No surprise since headlines both befuddle and rankle us.
"…one has to have strong cojones and ovaries to withstand
much of what passes for “good” in our culture today."
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes
“But it’s not supposed to be this way.” we bemoan to each other, to our kids, our politicians, to the heavens. Just like our politicized U.S. Congress, our elderly parents pull back when we expect them to reach out even more. On every level we are being forced to face up to hard truths and confounding questions. When we least expect to be confronted, we get crazed as old hurts flare up. And shaken to the core when our status quo evaporates and dreams seem out of reach.
In these jaw dropping times of overwhelming challenges and turbulent change on every level, it is easy to fall into resignation and hopelessness or turn away into abject denial seeking to turn back the hands of time to what we suppose was a gentler era.
Hardest for me is the realization that I, too, can slip into stuckness – my POV rooted in old paradigms and outmoded Pavlovian responses. I’ve been committed to enlightenment and forever seeking greater awareness and expanded consciousness in others and myself. So as you can imagine, it’s shattering to confront my own intolerance and rigidity.
It’s appears this is a common malaise today: despairing insights flipping us to the depths and back into wonderment. Living in extremes brings up anger, defensiveness, and confusion. —Not wanting to release our neatly concealed raw truths, we protect ourselves, (and others,) by convincing ourselves, “I don’t know how to respond!” These dissipative swings are unlikely to resolve in the near future. I was reminded recently that it’s best to honor our whole range of emotions and examine our cherished worldview routinely.
This year during our holiday season it is important to remember that both Chanukah and Christmas share a universal spiritual message: that it is possible to bring light and hope in a world of darkness, oppression and despair. Chanukah is about a struggle for freedom by an entire people who sought to remake their world through struggle with an oppressive political and social order. Christmas on the other hand focuses on the birth of a single individual whose life and mission was its self supposed to bring freedom to us all.
From both struggles for liberation we have perfected the knack of resurrection.
We are living proof: survivors of 911, Tsunami, Katrina…Pakistani & Haitian earthquakes, fires in Haifa, Israel, breast cancer and aids, …the Holocaust, Biafra and Darfur. All survivors…all living proof that that which has been lost, forgotten or floundered can be brought back to life again.
Now is the time to be reminded of the power of now, of stopping and reflecting, being in the moment…focusing on what works, letting go of what doesn’t, and channeling our mutual energies towards creating a better future.
"Ours is an era of quantum change, the most radical deconstruction
and reconstruction the world has seen."
~Jean Houston
In my deepest core I know that these are awesome times, albeit testing all we have to offer. Each of us, me included, have past many tests and arisen again. There are days I just want to give up, when my doubts loom larger than life. I get hooked on what isn’t yet here instead of focusing on what’s here now. (You know the feeling?) It’s like gunning the motor while stepping on the break with other foot! But I’m reminded that this is our time to make a sustainable difference. We’re needed, that is all we can be sure of. So full speed ahead into the future.
My continued refrain: I’m still standing after all this time! Like the ever-ready bunny I keep rebounding because I truly believe we are being prepared to withstand and survive even greater stress and testing on all fronts. All of us are needed to rally us as we confront the next evolutionary shift of mankind and our planet. We are either enroute to an evolutionary dead-end where everything we’ve known and held true is up for grabs, or we’ll ride these future trends into a new world of our making.
The greatest gift of these times of epoch change has been the call to our greatness. Sometimes the call is so silent, it is barely perceptible except to the trained ear. Other times it shakes us up like a cacophonous horn blowing for all the world’s souls to come to attention.
It is critical not to lose hope, so I implore you to not waste your precious soul energy on despairing. Rather stay focused on what really matters, on what must abide.
Remember that it is we who are the visionary leaders and game changers we’ve been waiting for…we all matter, each of us -- and together the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It is we who have the responsibility to be the new vanguard for the 21st Century… the messengers, teachers and transformers co-creating a greater tomorrow… today. As history tells us, change agents always deepen their culture and leave a legacy for future generations by confronting the difficulties of their times with invention, insight and transcendent understanding.
So as we enter this holiday season, rejoice in another year closing and a new one coming. Know and honor your greatness. Cherish and ignite the flame of Greatness reflected back from those you love as you celebrate the year turning.
"Live on – live on as if you had centuries!"
~Carl Jung
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