a map for the moment

How to live with the energetic shifts of a transforming world

Technology is changing, the planet is changing, society is changing, spirituality is changing…

Of course, life is change and we’re all always in a state of flux, but change right now seems accelerated, which can be dizzying at times, and disorienting.

Last week, I published the latest chapter of my spiritual memoir Cosmic Heart.*

It was a chapter about my journey with Reiki - my early obsession, finally finding my teacher, taking classes, and seeing clients for healing sessions. I wrote there was a difference between healing and curing. I said it was one of my failings back in the day, that I didn’t communicate that difference as well as I could have. I wasn’t always willing to fully embody my own voice as a healer, or energy wellness practitioner, or an intuitive.

Naming myself a healer or teacher or guide used to get stuck in my throat. I knew the potential pitfalls for all involved. There’s nothing wrong with having gurus, or teachers, or go-to psychics, or people we listen to and learn from in this life. In fact, we need them. We need one another in that way. The relationship goes wrong, however, when we choose obedience to someone or something outside of ourselves and give over our own guidance in favor of someone else’s.

I believe, as the way we live together changes, we will see see a return to the self as a guru.

I believe we will see other changes, too. Dramatic changes. Whole new world changes. Many people, when they hear the words revolution or rebellion or protest, can only imagine how those things have been done in the past, through violence and strife. But this is a time for our imagination. This is a time for visionaries to step up and present a different way forward, a better way, beyond war consciousness.

I believe…

We will begin to explore new ways of living within our own bodies; we will uncover new human capabilities and expand our capacity for experience.

Our understanding of what it means to be human will evolve, that we will become less separate from one another and from all of creation, from the earth itself.

As humanity develops new ways of thought and communication, we will see new ways of being in community and new ways of being ourselves with an increased emphasis on harmony and balance. Less pushing, striving, and hustling. More rest, flow, and understanding.

We are moving away from the paradigm of over-working, over-spending, and people- pleasing. We are learning to let ourselves be and focus less on our image or getting things exactly right. We are moving away from curated feeds and personal branding and leaning toward organic beauty.

Reality is changing, systems are crumbling, energies are reversing, constructs are rearranging, long hidden truths are being dragged into the light.

This is not a pleasant process. It is dangerous and it will be painful, but we don’t have to do things the way we’ve always done them. We don’t have to carry the labels and judgements we’ve carried in the past. We can see now that there’s very little, if anything, that exists on a binary. We can see our inherent worth. We can see that we don’t have to prove anything to anyone, don’t have to earn our right to be alive, or pay for our existence.

I believe as our governments and ways of governing are broken apart and are re-invented, we will have the opportunity to become less engaged with violent ideologies and scientific materialism. We will become more focused on mutual aid, kindness, and scientific mysticism.

As a collective, we are dismantling the old and creating something new. We can do that as individuals, too. It happens when we truly believe that which we know in our hearts to be true - when we trust ourselves and take action based in that trust.

No one can tell you who you are. You are unique and you are in a perpetual state of evolution, just as we are all in that evolution as earthlings.

I am not turning a blind eye to the fact that we are moving into exceedingly difficult times, terrain we’ve never before crossed, but I am acknowledging that we will each experience that terrain differently. In this new land, the real work of love and justice and caring for one another can begin. At any given time, those of us who are not in as much danger can reach out to those who are in the most danger. We can build bridges to one another. We can traverse the rubble of the collapse by allowing our inner guidance. We can listen to it, nurture it, wrap it in beautiful light, dance with it in the dark.

We can’t be happy all the time. We shouldn’t be happy all the time. To be happy all the time we would have to shut down our empathy, our wisdom. But we can’t be curled on the floor all the time, either, unable to speak or breathe or act.

We have the ability to change things, change ourselves, changes our minds, change the world. We are good, at our core. The evil we do is learned, and we can unlearn it. At any moment anyone of us can choose the grace of transformation. We can learn to stand in our power without harming one another.

Please don’t spend time with energies that flatten or disempower you. There’s so much information out there, and so much of it is designed to stress you out and leave you confused and lead you astray, away from yourself and your true nature.

This moment in time is all about slowing down to evaluate and noticing what feels true. Use your discernment. Trust your judgement. Take in information, but only in tiny bites, and sprinkle those bites with salt.

Everything is energy.

Absolutely every every every thing is energy, and energy is not only something to which we respond, it is also something we wield.

These are things I feel in my bones.

These are the things I know:

We are in a massive tower moment. Nothing is as it seems. Nothing is as it was. We are living in constant and massive shifts. We are forging ahead into the unknown and the untested. We are, each day, new versions of ourselves.

If you’re feeling like your personal life is collapsing right now, it only makes sense that it would be. We are in the energy of collapse. If you’re having trouble regulating your nervous system right now, it only makes sense that you would be. The anxious panic is being pumped into the air nonstop. We are experiencing a split unlike any split we’ve seen. And it’s alright to feel all of our feelings about that.

But the future, as Joe Strummer would say, is unwritten. Why would we write a future born of worry and despair? The confounding miracle is, Joy thrives, even in the midst of suffering. You have a right to your joy. You have a right to your inner peace. No one and nothing can rob you of your spirit, your magic, your heart. Don’t postpone your pleasure, don’t wait. Start living now. Be with people. Laugh with people. Be with trees. Laugh with trees. Drink tea with people. Drink tea with cats. Don’t hoard your resources - the material or the emotional. Share what you have, including your gifts. Walk the path as it unfolds and if it doesn’t unfold, paint it on the ground in the colors you like.

No matter what - no matter what dies or what is born, what goes away or what takes its place, at our foundation, below our feet, deep within the earth of humanity there are only two guiding forces. One is love and the other is hate. That has always been true and will always been true, and in each moment of our lives we choose which one we’re going to value, which one we are going to channel through our bodies, with which one we are going to create.

This isn’t a time to be passive. It’s a time to move forward, boldly, in demonstrative love - not just easy love, but the kind of love that turns over tables and sweeps rooms clean. The kind of love that changes hearts and minds. This is a time for radical kindness.

It’s time to create the world we wish to see, the human we wish to be.

Power to the people.

*I’m not sharing Cosmic Heart to make money. I am not a big creator. My following is teeny tiny, but hugely beloved. I made Cosmic Heart available to paid subscribers because I’m publishing it as I write it, and I like that I’m sharing it in an intimate community of people who have indicated they want to read it. I am so deeply grateful for those of you who have chosen to support my work - each one of you. I love writing for you and with you. Thank you.