gave me the space to realize we are currently at war or very nearly there
Yet we continue to assume, to blame, to ignore. Hard to imagine in a time when so much information is available we choose (it really is a choice) to assume, to blame, to ignore.
Friends and colleagues who are busy with their lives, Hard working people who are scraping by, Young people disillusioned or disaffected (as we all were at some point) realizing fairytale endings rarely happen and our history doesn't always make us proud.
All who feel to some degree it's someone else's job to clean up the mess.
I find myself searching for a sign to tell me that everything is going to come out all right
And then I remember how young a species we really are, I imagine we are still fumbling in our youth, not sure of our path ahead and what skills we will need or what successes actually look like.
Which is why the sea changing from calm to turbulent has led me to this place of reflection
Anticipating that I am at risk if I attempt to go into the sea by myself, I need the help of others to make my way through breaking waves amidst coral rocks
I cannot assume the return of calm, I cannot blame the sea for being true to its nature, I cannot ignore the crashing water and jagged rocks.
I cannot bring about a sea change. But with more people around me maybe together we can weather the change and keep ourselves from going under.
Change is, after all, the nature of things. Sea changes are just bigger and require more of us to meet the challenge.
We all have stories.
Some of them are true.
Many of them are real
but not necessarily true.
Taken together they make up
who we hold ourselves to be -
in the past, in anticipating the future,
and as we breathe in and out
in this present moment.
These stories don't exist independently from us.
We are the ones who keep
breathing life into them.
We are the ones who offer them power.
Oh these stories are such a burden.
Oh this story brings such guilt and shame.
Oh how to escape my past.
Oh why can't this be like it used to be.
Not all are dark and shadowed.
Some indeed are light and uplifting,
but have you ever noticed how
shadows often obscure the sun?
This question I would pose to you -
How might we meet these stories head on?
Do we invite them in to take a seat?
Do we let them hide in the closet
and come out whenever they choose?
Naming them is a way to
shift your perspective,
create some distance and
make some space around the story.
You can acknowledge a story
but set limits on when it can intrude
and when it needs to back off.
This is more than a delicate dance.
It can be a way to interrupt the pattern
of responding that keeps a story alive.
And if you don't quite understand
what I mean by "story" -
Well then, that's another story...
