The increasing emotional polarity in our world has become
impossible to miss. The actions of our leaders—and the subsequent reactions of
the people— are more transparent than ever. The result is increased intensity
across the board. Increased emotions, such as fear, anger, and self-righteous
judgment. Like love, kindness, and fierce protection of life and the planet. These
two currents run side by side, influencing us all and contributing to the
general messiness of being a human being.
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| Photo credit |
When you break it down and look at what’s behind each of
these emotions, each of these currents, it comes down to two simple energy
streams: Love. And fear. They exist in our collective consciousness, like huge
pools of energy. Each and every thought, word, or action we experience emerges
from and contributes to one of these pools of energy, either love or fear. Whether
we are aware of it or not, we are IN it.
Have you ever been with someone who
insisted they were “Just fine,” but you could feel the anger emanating from
them? Behind anger lies fear. Always. Or have you encountered a stranger, maybe
a waitress or bank teller, who was just going about their business, but
radiated kindness? Behind each act of kindness lies love.
My intention is not to imply that there are “good” emotions
and “bad” emotions. It’s not so simple. It is important for us to understand
the energy stream with which we are engaging. Ultimately, what’s needed in this
world are thoughts, words, and actions that are life-affirming. For example,
sometimes anger is very life affirming! We channel anger when we protect our
children, when we say NO to violence and exploitation. Here’s the thing,
though—at their root, those protective actions are about love. Now if we hang
on to that anger, it's a different energy entirely. For example, if we become self-righteous in judging
perpetrators, we run the risk of shifting from love to fear. When we trace our
emotions down to their tap root, their source, we can always identify whether
they come from love or fear. Try it! It is truly an eye-opening practice.
In the recent months, I’ve found myself asking myself this
question: What’s it going to take for humanity to wake up? It came up for me
every time I watched the news, heard the ugliness of our political rhetoric,
learned of another police shooting or another bombing in Syria. What’s it going
to take? I now realize that this question was coming from a place of fear.
Really, what I was asking is this: How bad does it have to get?
In holding that thought, I was feeding the fear energy bank.
Even though my intention is about creating a world in which we live in peace,
where the needs of the people and the planet are cared for, I was coming from a
place of fear. I was contributing to the size and power of the fear current.
And when we do that, we make fear the prevailing current.
What if we all made a conscious choice to make love the
prevailing current? I still wonder what it’s going to take for humanity to wake
up. Only now I find myself checking in with love, feeling into that current.
Seeing it getting bigger, and stronger. Influencing our world leaders. Instead
of wondering how bad it has to get, I’m wondering how good does it need to get
before love becomes the prevailing current? A subtle, but very powerful shift
in perspective.
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| Currents image courtesy of NOAA |
I invite you to notice when you experience a strong emotion.
Feel into it, explore the tap root. Are you reacting from a place of fear? Or
from love? We are all responsible for tending these currents, for the
consequences of our thoughts, words, and actions. Why not choose love as our
prevailing current?
With respect,
Zardoya
