In the second half of 2018 there is much happening in the anti-fracking movement and the extinction rebellion group. It is part a response to the recently published IPCC report indicating the small timeframe left to redress climate change. People who otherwise would not typically be active environmentalists are being called into action. It's amazing to see.
At this time I am also reminded that humans are not at the centre of anything.
I do think we have a very inflated self obsessed sense of ourselves. By this I mean, everything is filtered through a very human-centric lens. It's hard not to do this. Nevertheless, our self-reflexivity does offer other options.
When it is suggested we are guardians or stewards of Earth and therefore must act to protect her. I want to suggest an alternative position, that we are instead temporary guests. Each one of us is passing through. Here for a short time.
From this view point;
What if, we de-center our self-importance?
Become more humble.
Become more grateful, caring and appreciative of all other forms of life.
What if, no one needs saving from no-thing?
What if, we do not need to shift human consciousness?
From an open hearted trusting place there is the potential that consciousness, will shift us. That potentiality is always present. Unfortunately too often fear gets before love. No judgement. It's very hard to sometimes even recognise fear is trumping love. Fear, scarcity, loss, hate, deprivation, trauma, anxiety are peddled every second of the day from the moment we are born. That is why we have an epidemic of mental disease and chronic tiredness. Learning how to meet and hold painful and fear-based energies, emotions, experiences is a life's work.
Recognising that light comes out of darkness and darkness comes out of light allows us to appreciate that polarities by definition are inseparable. To deny one is to deny them both simultaneously. You cannot know joy without knowing sorrow. When we truly see and feel the interconnectedness of all things we recognise that everything is ok. This is not to dismiss suffering. It is to recognise it does not exist in isolation. And to hold suffering we need to come into relationship with all of life.
Then being human is transformed from this very diminished place of consumer, careerist, capitalist into a dancing co-creator. Life is not a linear industrial machine striving for productivity, efficiency and an optimalism. Life is a cyclical relationship of reciprocity, generosity and creativity. Change, movement and dynamism are continuous as life seeks further and deeper expression of itself.
All of which takes me to the words of Jalaluddin Rumi.
"This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond" (translated by Coleman Barks).
