Power, Responsibility and a More Beautiful World

One thing that I am noticing about this time is that we are being invited to face how powerful we are, and to take responsibility for that power.

The invitation is a strong one.

We are living in a time when standing too close to your neighbour could result in their death, or the death of someone they love. On the other hand, choosing not to join one single group gathering could save numerous lives.

We are being asked to face the fact that our individual impact is. that. huge.

Life or death.

I am that powerful. So are you. And so is every single human being out there.  

There can be no denying it.

We impact each other. We always have.

The only difference is now we can see it. The stakes are raised. The consequences are front and centre. We cannot pretend like we are separate, self-contained individuals. We cannot pretend like our personal actions do not matter.

At least not right now when they so obviously and excruciatingly do.

This is often what it takes for us to be willing to take responsibility for our actions and to make a change. We have to feel what it is costing us. In real time.

Right now, the pain of changing our behaviour to a slower, more solitary life is less than the pain of continuing on with the busyness.

Rarely do we have this kind of mirror put in our faces showing us the impact of our everyday grind.

Usually the impact of our busy lives is only the potential of burnout, failed relationships, and regret some time in the future. While the consequences have been getting closer (i.e. burnout, drama-filled relationships and existential crises are happening at all ages, not only death bed, or mid-life), it has still been possible to say: “Not me, I’m different. I can do it all. I can hack it.” Not anymore.

We can no longer believe the lie that this culture of busyness is working.

The thing about viruses is that everyone can carry them. While some may not be hit as hard physically, we can all be silent killers. Not one of us gets to say “not me, I’m different”.

For many of us this level of personal responsibility is a hard pill to swallow.

Yet, that is what is being asked of us. We are being asked to acknowledge the power that we all have as humans to impact each other and the Earth in life and death ways, and to take RESPONSIBILITY for it, by acting in ways that take into account our personal impact.

Paradoxically, we are also being asked to face our powerlessness to the unseen forces of Truth and Justice that flow through all Life.

A more sustainable future is coming, whether we like it or not.

Transformation of the status quo is coming, whether we like it or not.

We cannot control the Covid-19 pandemic in the ways we would like to. We cannot tell it to stop, or to go away, or to leave us alone. When it showed up, we had no way of killing it off, or otherwise preventing it from harming us. In many ways we were powerless to its impact, and its spread.

We have now tried many ways to control it, and we may eventually succeed in developing some measures that keep it check, or limit its ability to harm us.

But so far, the measure that has worked the best has been for each of us to take responsibility for our own power, and to act in a way that benefits the whole: to stop, self-isolate and limit the spread.

I do not think this is a coincidence.

We are being asked to remember that while we may be powerless in the sense that we often understand power (the ability to exert force over and control), this is not the true definition of power.

We are being asked to remember that true power looks like taking responsibility, not exerting force.

So no, we do not get to control this pandemic, but we do get to choose who we will be in the face of it.  

This is the choice we each have, and each of our decisions matter.

Will we take responsibility for our personal power and begin acting in ways that take into account our impact on each other and the Earth?

Or will we choose to go down fighting against forces more powerful that us, for a status quo that imprisons us more than it serves?

Will our choices bring about our own destruction, or will we surrender to the deeper thread of Life and find a way to create a place for humanity in the more beautiful world that is being birthed?

These are the questions that we need front and centre in our conversations about how to approach Covid-19, and other global crises, going forward.

We are ready for this transformation.

Whether or not we think we are, whether or not we like it, and no matter how scary it may seem. We must leap.

We must leap into the uncertainty and find a new way. A new way to listen. A new way to make decisions. One that takes into account our true power, and the impact we have on each other and the Earth.

We must learn to tap into our own truth. We are not separate from the deeper thread of Life, that is asking for our transformation. It is a part of us.

If we are willing to pause and to go deep within ourselves and listen, we will find we already know just what to do. We know how to take responsibility for our own power. We know how to take our impact on all Life into account because we are connected to it.

We know how to choose differently. But, will we? Will you?

This is the question that each of us gets to answer for ourselves in the quiet of our own hearts.

Will you make a commitment to yourself here and now to align your actions with the deeper thread of Truth and Justice that flows through all Life?

Will you devote yourself to your own personal transformation?

Will you learn to trust in your own deepest truth?

Only you can answer these questions.

That is the gift and the curse of being human: we always get to choose.

So, if you are willing, get really quiet now. Go deep within yourself.

And ask yourself: What do I choose?

Xo,

Danielle