As we’ve passed the shortest day of the year, we move into a new phase. Many things are about to shift and change, and we can contribute to that change simply by our way of being.
It’s easy to get taken over by what goes on around us—by something like a collective energy field. This field is fed by fear, and when we listen constantly to the news, the fear grows. While it’s important to stay informed, it’s more important to protect ourselves from negative energy. When we identify with negative thoughts and external problems, our sense of anxiety and impotence grows. Everything seems too big to do anything about.
Therefore, in order to seek a better world, we have to move to our internal state first, to the cause, not the effect.
To transform our world, or contribute in some small way to its healing, we ourselves have to become whole. When we turn within, we can access a healing awareness. At first, we might feel even more pain because we are bringing our attention to it. But by using our awareness and self-compassion, we can begin to find that there is a spaciousness that is more than the pain.
By first attending to our own well-being, we can observe the world without getting so caught up in its problems that we lose our sense of self.
And only when we can be in touch with our true self, which is open and aware, can we creatively deal with our external world.
Try writing down everything you’d like to let go of this year, then if it’s safe, burn it. Or just rip it into pieces and throw it away.
It’s a time of new beginnings. And we can participate by taking a different view, by remaining aware and present. In this way, our presence becomes a healing force in the world.
May the unfortunate receive the gift of good fortune.
May the lonely receive the gift of feeling cherished.
May the despairing receive the gift of peacefulness.
May everyone receive the gift of joy and happiness.
-Raven Cypress Wood
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” – Aristotle
“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.” – Maya Angelou