reclaim wonder, embody joyful action… seriously

photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@dearseymour

sitting in meditation this morning, i had what felt like a profound realization. it seemed pretty obvious immediately afterward, but i think it felt profound in the moment because i was experiencing it in my body. as i was sitting there being present to the sun shining on my face, the sounds of the birds singing, the breeze and my breath, i felt so peaceful. so, so - present. and it was absolute bliss. for a moment.

then, in the next moment, i had the thought that, although living in the present moment is critical for our health and sanity, and truly learning to live in the present moment is a huge part of what will help to get us out of this mess we have created, it’s not enough. or, should i say, it’s too easy to do that at the expense of all that needs to be done. too many of us (myself included) who buy the “be here now” balm don’t read all of the instructions, but rather slather it on it as a way of escaping the pain of our past and avoiding the pain of the very possible future we all face. we do the “new age” thing and think we’ve achieved some greatness because we feel present.

what i realized in that moment was that we must use the connection we feel to all things when we are fully present in each moment and ground ourselves in the lessons and gifts of the past so we can move with awareness towards the human experience we want to co-create. the human experience we all know is possible - if we re-member how to be present.

the thing is, most of us came into this world fully present (or at least more present than we are now), but it was conditioned out of us. we learned, for lots of reasons, to believe that not being present was safer than feeling the pain of living. and sometimes it was. so we began to shut down, check out. but that perceived safety has come at a great cost - our ability to feel the wonder of being alive. and that loss of collective wonder is what has allowed us to do all we have done, bringing us to standing on the brink of losing of all we love and treasure.

i, for one, am not willing to let it go so easily. to me, reclaiming my wonder is all about living in the present and honoring the past while embodying joyful action for the more beautiful future i must attempt to engender. in other words, we need to take all that we’ve done and all that is happening very seriously and we need to approach what’s coming with joy and wonder so we can make space for the unimaginable, mysterious solutions to emerge.

are you with me?

are you willing to dig deep, release, cry, rage, laugh, sing, shout, and sit in silent awe? are you willing to call on your healed ancestors, stretch into your tiredness, honor your need for rest and let go of what no longer serves? are you willing to honor your authentic inner knowing and do your part for this “more beautiful world our hearts know is possible?”

i hope so. because we are all in this together.

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