What’s Waiting For Us on the Other Side?
*The above photo has not been modified in any way. It’s a real door we found lying on the outskirts of a real, tiny piece of forest!
As usual, I’m quite slow to jump on the bandwagon. Being an observer, I have always found listening much easier than speaking my mind. And, if we’re talking about COVID-19 and #stay[ing]thef***home, I am one of those who sees self-isolation as a great opportunity to do all the things we normally don’t because we’re just “too busy”.
For all of us who have this privilege, this time right now, where it seems like life has hit the pause button, is the perfect time to plant the seeds for how we want life to resume once we make it out of this. Whatever each and everyone of us is feeling, whether it’s fear, anxiety, boredom, sadness… it all has the potential to transform into something greater than itself; that is, if we can allow for it. With this gift of stillness**, there’s a door of opportunity waiting for us to go within and connect to the things that matter to us most. What waits for us on the other side has the potential to reflect whatever reality we choose.
Will we choose to go back to the way things were before this all started? Or will we take the risk and dream of something different? Better?
Here are some of things I’ve been up to since self-isolating has become the norm:
- Continuing an arts & crafts project I started in November but quickly forgot about after realizing how long it would take to finish;
- Pushing through my resistance to speak on the phone or do video chats (also trying to figure out from where this discomfort stems?);
- Re-visiting all my material from my trip to India, so I can begin organizing my thoughts and reflections — my goal is to put everything together in some sort of short documentary;
- Taking leisurely walks (see cover photo);
- Filming myself doing qigong exercises for my family…
None of these things seem very special at all, but what they are allowing me to do is to lean into activities that I shy away from or usually tend to forget/avoid. At the same time, I’m getting the chance to connect to myself (my artistic side), to others (when I have a strong tendency to isolate myself in general), and to the world around me (although pretty limited right now). I’ve lived in Hochelaga for over 5 years now and just discovered a park about 10 minutes from my house that I never realized existed!
Another cool initiative that I had the chance to participate in yesterday is called GAIA. Organized by the Presencing Institute, they’ve put together an “impromptu global infrastructure for sense-making, for leaning into our current moment of disruption, and letting this moment move us toward civilizational renewal”. It’s a 14-week journey open to anyone and everyone interested in social change. This afternoon, I, along with over a thousand other people around the globe, reflected on our current situation and shared in small breakout groups what each of us felt was asking to be let go of; our inner state of being and how we are coping with what we are facing; and as a whole, what we felt might be starting to emerge. This was the final visual created by the session’s graphic facilitator, Olaf:
Among the many things that participants observed, some saw the darkness of a beautiful forest, with light beginning to emerge from it; others sensed how oneness and choice are at the centre of all things; and still others were moved by the blank space waiting to be filled. What I saw here is a wound in the process of healing.
Do you sense, see, or feel any opportunities emerging from our current reality? What kind of world do you imagine on the other side of that door?? If you don’t already believe in the power of collective consciousness, this is the perfect time to be brave and be bold.
**Shout out to all the frontline workers out there risking their own health and safety to attend to the needs of others — we couldn’t do this without you!
