I know that my life here on Earth is supported unconditionally, the water, the air, the earth, it nourishes and energises me, heals, and supports me and I can be grateful every day for all that is provided.
What happens when we become so very disconnected from nature when we’ve lost sight of our place? Separated from this source?
We suffer, we lose our balance and harmony, we literally lose our way and experience living in chaos. Not only separated from nature and all its inherent wisdom but so separated from one another. In that separation, we learn to compete for our place and as the competition intensifies we unconsciously create a belief that there’s not enough to sustain us. A mindset of scarcity takes over with all its inherent fear and anxiety. Our separation, our lostness, our competing becomes evident in our relationships, our health, our pandemic levels of anxiety, fear, insomnia and a myriad of other wellness-related troubles experienced today. There’s a deep-seated unrest, a disturbance, a dis-ease among us, our vitality is compromised and the symptoms are exhibited in our families, communities, our society. We’re so deeply embedded with this condition, this way of life, that we’ve somehow normalised this chaos.
In our separation, we’ve lost sight of the principles, these foundational core elements that nurture all life. This existence so disconnected from nature has resulted in the perception that survival means fighting for our place, that life is about being the strongest, the fittest, that we must exert more effort, more control, more worldly power and influence in order to stand guard over this way of living. Our superiority was established and we’ve spent a few hundred years creating social systems and constructs to suit this paradigm. Independent systems, around business, health, education, environment, governance, and more.
Let’s not judge the rightness or wrongness of our past, let’s move forward knowing that there is great purpose in ‘everything’ that brought us to this juncture. Our social systems and institutions have served us well yet today they’re under enormous stress and pressure to change. These are our lineal constructs and social ‘systems’ born of theories, sciences and the accompanying beliefs that we pass on to new generations. We are born into these systems and in that respect, we’ve not only inherited this separative and disconnected way of being but we’ve inherited the intergenerational beliefs that are so causal in our current state of wellness. Beliefs that are steering us down a path that leads to more of the same pain, same suffering and chaos. A path where we’ve unintentionally become confused about where we fit in the world as a species.
Believing we’re somehow superior and that we subordinate all other life, is a root cause of our pain.
So we’ve become confused about what is progress, what is success, we’ve unconsciously participated in all the systems and constructs that perpetuate the problems, the pain and symptoms that plague us, our communities. We’ve followed the linear path, we’ve allowed our young minds to be fed limited information within education systems. We’ve studied hard in these environments that emphasise the importance of nurturing our mental faculties, our thinking minds, some physical but all the while neglecting our emotional and spiritual health. It is here where we begin acquiring these competing and separating behaviours.
Now prepared, we enter new social constructs, the fairground, we work, we earn money, climbing on the social ladders and carousels, we’ve hopped on the merry-go-rounds, risked the dodgems and ride the roller coasters, all with a view to bettering ourselves. Competing, winning/losing, striving, and struggling to get more, to gain more, to be better and to be successful as measured within this social system. Within this paradigm, we’ve learned and agreed that success is defined materially, economically, our chosen primary metric is financial, we use money, our wealth to help define our position, our status, our place in this reality.
Then, having sacrificed so much to get there, we go to incredible lengths to safeguard, protect and even defend our place, further perpetuating our suffering. We’ve become so identified with this reality, this way of being. I liken it to a fairground where we forever pump adrenalin as we seek greater thrills but it’s never enough, we’re never content or satisfied and so we have to build bigger fairgrounds with more thrill, more pleasure and so it continues as we push and shove and compete in order to climb ladders, we’ve made the carousels spin faster, so fast that we fear jumping off, surely it’s safer to stay on the ride.
Yet it’s refreshing to know that so many people in increasing numbers are questioning this way of life. Tired and stressed, fatigued, and worn out as they reach their tolerance threshold and begin questioning and even challenging the status quo. It’s becoming evident everywhere, we’re shining a big spotlight on politics, governance, leadership, business, health, housing, and more. Yes, we face very real existential challenges in unprecedented times but not without purpose. These challenges provide us the necessary signposts to help steer us in a new direction, let’s take heed of the signposts.
Let’s not be too reactive, let’s be responsive, in our haste to make things right, it’s so easy to just ‘do’ things differently. The way of ‘doing’ isn’t the cause of our problems today, the root cause(s) is in our way of ‘Being’. Many people have and are continuing to leave the fairground, for many the temporary thrill is over, the constant adrenaline fatigue is making us ill and the underlying promise of finding everlasting happiness proves elusive. That reality isn’t sustainable and in increasing numbers, we’re searching for a new truth, a new way. We look toward ancient wisdom as we anchor ourselves to timeless principles necessary to reconnect with a different reality, one that we are naturally and inherently a part of. One where we can feel a sense of belonging. A place of caring not competing, of loving not hating, of sharing not withholding, a place of nurturing not abusing. Wellness is our new metric.
Brought to you by The Living Project, a place where those who are questioning the status quo can unite, share, collaborate, innovate, and co-create. Caring together within a common and shared purpose. The Living Project is a growing community where we together are Caring For Our Collective Wellness
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