Big Things, Small

Lotusland

The sky is grey and the air feels like it is trending toward coolness after a heat wave. The temperature sits at 67 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Tuesday.

There are a lot of big changes going on, all around us. It seems the world is shifting into a new gear - beyond what we have known up to now. Things are moving faster, more information and analytics than any human can absorb. Everyone seems to feel time is moving much faster, making it a challenge to be present to each moment. The mood of society is affecting individuals such that capacity to feel care and concern for each other is diminishing. There is constant news of how the national leaders are destabilizing conditions in local communities. And of course, local communities are forced to respond – in constant reaction to threats of every kind. Those include taking away funding for infrastructure projects, demanding changes in policy and practices that open opportunities for access to education, health care, work, housing, and more. Then, there is the fact of military personnel being dispatched into local communities for the purpose of creating an occupying force within the nation's borders. It seems like these are big changes.

All of what we are seeing is being understood as big shifts; but in reality - these are just accelerated changes moving in exactly the same direction as before, just faster and more clear. The moves that are to shake up the flow of life and the effect is simply being lifted up for everyone to see such that you can no longer ignore the fact that all is not well in our world. We lived in a way that was basically living unaware of who and what we are to the rest of the world. It's a big world, and we are small part of it. We may have more machines and money; but we have lost a lot and don't even realize it. As institutions, civil society, and opportunities to improve our capacity to care for one another diminish, people tend toward fear, anxiety, depression. It's clear (and predictable).

These are the times in which creativity is needed - beyond advice about strategies for engaging in politics or business. These are the times when intentional acts to slow things down must arise and art, music, plays, storytelling are essential for our ability to find that which does not exist, but is waiting to be discovered. The artists and creative vessels among humanity are being called into service, big time. These are the ones that know that the universe is vast, that spirit is waiting to be brought into our lives, and that whatever the material world has taught has reached its limit. Now is the time when things could be revealed as to how and what has to happen in order for humanity to fulfill its destiny. It can only happen when we slow the compulsion for self-preservation and increasing capacities to understand, rather than simply know. It is time to manifest.