Holding the Big Picture, Part Two

The past few days, spent pondering the big cycles and turnings in our world, have been enlightening in many ways. I'm blown away by how much has changed—and how much has not changed. There are countless examples in the media each day. What have you noticed?

That we are in the midst of a gigantic shift is, in my mind, unquestionable. The cycles are in play. How we unpack them, how we dismantle those parts of our system that do not serve the whole—this is what's in front of us.

It always comes down to this basic, fundamental truth for me: the only thing I can really change or impact is my own self. All great change starts in this way. It starts in the center and ripples out to impact the whole.

So how do we unpack this shift in consciousness? One by one by one, we get to pick how we unpack it, each and every day, with our thoughts, our words, and our actions. 

They all matter. They matter big, because in a way it’s like a percentage game. What percentage of us are able to hold our center, hold the vision for knowing we are all one, and we need to care for each other, and there’s enough for everybody, and there’s a way out of this incredible imbalance we’ve created over the last couple of thousand years. What’s it going to take for there to be enough of us holding that energy so that it doesn’t have to be a drastic or traumatic coming apart? That’s where we are. We’re coming apart. And coming apart is never easy.

If we start by paying attention to our thoughts, we’ll find that our words and actions begin to shift. It all starts with our thoughts; they run us from underneath, always. Notice your inner responses, or your reactions, to what is going on around you. Peer behind what appears to be the obvious. Courageously shine the light in all of the dark places—it can sometimes be shocking to see the truth of our uncensored thoughts and beliefs, those subtle inner voices that drive our words and actions.

Courageously Shine the Light in All of the Dark Places

Be vigilant with this action. There’s plenty of opportunity, each and every day. When a news story breaks about racial profiling and police brutality, look deeply into the little place that twinges in your gut. That place of discomfort which, often, we simply disregard by distracting ourselves, shifting our attention somewhere else. Shine the light there, instead. When the political rhetoric is flying with unprecedented ugliness, look for the truth of what’s being spoken. Shine the light there, look behind the words, see what it’s triggering in you, what part of the collective consciousness is being represented by the words.

There’s a type of ruthless compassion required here. Ruthless in paying attention and always seeking the truth. The bare-bones, unadulterated, un-prettified truth. Compassion for ourselves and others as we recognize our old patterns, our old story, and dismantle what no longer serves so we can step into our new story. The first step in dismantling the old paradigm is seeing it. Seeing the truth of it. On a collective level and a personal level, this is what we are in the midst of.

It helps me to hold the bigger perspective. It helps me to see these big cycles and turnings, be that through Astrology, the Mayan calendar, or any other way of framing what’s happening during this time. When I step away and take that bigger view, it’s humbling. Because this day to day drama we’re in is nothing! It’s a quantum second when you frame it in the greater picture of the evolution of humanity. 

And...it's everything. It’s critically important. It’s like an in-breath and an out-breath of the universe. We can either hold our breath because we don’t want to or can’t face the truth, or we can keep that breath moving. We can pay attention to those times when we feel the breath catch, when we’re holding…and then breathe into that space, see what’s there.

Breath is life. Truth is life. Light is life. We are life. We are co-creating life each moment, with each breath, and with each courageous exploration of truth.

With love and respect,

Zardoya