Unprecedented Times, Indeed.

There is so much going on.

Everyone is scared. Everyone is frustrated.

One minute you see a post created by an angry friend who is financially drowning. She has a school aged child and cannot work because schools are closed and child care is, too. She feels unseen, unheard and lost amidst the muck.

The next minute you see an article which speaks eloquently on
the reasons we “should” be responsible enough to do the right thing,
save lives, stay home and do or part.

I really dislike the word “Should”.

One minute you are crying and giving your best friend a virtual hug,
because this is the only way you can support her as she grieves
the loss of a loved one. Someone taken by Covid-19.
The next minute you cannot help but smile as you witness
great growth and deeper understanding from someone
who walked around in a state of extreme unawareness prior to this pandemic.

People who have busted their asses and put in every dollar,
every minute and every heart beat into a business which was doing so well…
are now trying to make ends meet as their businesses must stay closed.
The next person has barely worked in the past several years
and had no desire to, but now is bringing in more money than they’ve earned
in all those years put together… in one pay check. Every pay period.  

Unprecedented times is right.

We have people who believe that only those who are high risk should be quarantined. Some are eager to get back to work and unworried.
Others are afraid to work but want to have the choice as to
whether or not they have to.

We have those who are young and healthy
who refuse to work and like bringing in that extra unemployment funds.
There are others who are young and healthy who feel
there is nothing to worry about and gather in big groups to hang out
in areas which have been restricted,
but because there are no ramifications… they go anyway.
And if there WERE ramifications, there would be hell to raise,
to be sure! 

There are those who don’t care if there might be ramifications
for coming together in large groups, whether or not they come into regular contact with someone who is high risk.
There are others who live with someone high risk
but have no choice but to work,
and work under conditions that are less than current social standards.

Unprecedented times is right.

Allow me to unpack what I believe
is needed during these unusual times…

Compassion. Compassion for the person who is fearful and feels stuck.
Compassion for the person who is fearful and has tons of options.
Compassion for the people who are losing everything,
and compassion for those who are on the brink of having nothing again.
Compassion for those who are angry (fear in its most common form now days)
and compassion for those who have very difficult decisions to make.
Most of all…
Compassion for those with mindsets that do not align with our own.

Unprecedented times indeed.

Another thing that I believe we need during these strange times…

A fair and intelligent tolerance of differences.
Everyone wants so badly to be right, to be heard, to have their opinion valued. Everyone has their own path NOW DAYS,
just as everyone had their own path prior to now days.
There is no sense in comparing battles, opinions, mindsets or sufferings…
Not unless we have ideas on how to make it better.
Otherwise we are projecting our fears and perpetuating them.
Us against them, me verses you, mindset… yeah… it is just creating smaller and smaller tribes.

Think about it.

Another thing that might be of use going forward…

Awareness and open-minded respect for paradox.
Doing what I do and working in the realms of the Shadowlands as I do…
I have discovered such a great love and tough-minded respect for paradox.
I am not insinuating that others are willing or even capable of this type of relationship with paradox in short time,
but awareness and open-mindedness, alone, can take us far into new worlds.

There is always potential for growth, new life and rebirthing
in the face of trauma, suffering, destruction and profound uncertainty.
These things are actually VITAL to new growth. Paradox.

Unprecedented fucking times… indeed.

I have been neck deep in unpacking what current times are unfolding,
unleashing and kicking up, in terms of the collective Shadows…
We, none of us, are experiencing only (enhanced) personal Shadows,
but rather we are all experiencing the collective Shadows of everyone around us.

While we are each having our personal experiences of pain, isolation and suffering… while we are each taking independent journeys into darkness…
We are also taking in those of our families, our communities, our cities and states, our nations… and those of the entire planet.

It seems to me that this equates to a global, depth-psychological
“Dark Night Of Soul”.
Dark nights of soul will transform us…
it has the greatest ability to transform us for the better,
but the things that we are feeling cannot be transformed
​unless we are open-minded to the paradoxes presented to us.
The lowest vibrational energies which seem to have the toughest rap…
Intolerance, rage, violence, pride, jealousy, shame, guilt, fear…
These very things are stepping stones into HIGHER CONSCIOUNESS.

Think about what that means.

With the paradox of these HUGE Shadow energies, we have the opportunity, on a GLOBAL scale, to come to a state of higher consciousness.

It does not matter what stance we hold
when it comes to what should and should not be done.
It does not matter what stance we hold on the when/how/why/who
when it comes to whether or not we should go "back to normal" as a society.
It does not matter what stance we hold when it comes to the history/source
or the ins and outs of this pandemic.

We are all different in these ways.
Maybe if we take some time to be tolerant of our differences, compassionate even… we will then see the GRAND SCALE of healing that this mighty paradox holds.
One of my ALL-TIME favorite quotes is by Carl Jung…

“Until you make the unconscious conscious,
it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

Right now, in every collective group we are being asked by our personal Shadows
to pay attention to these things that are coming up,
both personally and collectively.
Like I always say, when you make the unknown known,
it loses its power over you.
THIS, tribe, is where the healing nature of the paradox comes in.

While we are all experiencing HIGH LEVELS of uncertainty,
fear, anger, judgment, intolerance and self-righteousness…
I invite us all to go inward and examine what it all really means.

How do these feelings connect current events
to our personal lives and histories?
Now go deeper and examine how our personal stories
and histories appear to dictate our current limitations.

Here is where we have the potential to grow, heal, better understand…
here is where we have the potential to heighten our consciousness, GLOBALLY.

Think about what that means.

These very primitive energies which are deeply rooted in our survival as a species…
Intolerance, rage, violence, pride, jealousy, shame, guilt, fear…

These things are screaming to be acknowledged, honored, balanced and integrated, and by doing so we come to a greater psychological reality… an awakening.

We may never in our lifetimes have another opportunity to do this on a global scale.

Think about it.

Unprecedented times, indeed.