Monday, June 28, 2010

Seeking Stillness

My city was attacked this weekend. Savagely assaulted, besieged, and set ablaze.


Voices were silenced and causes overshadowed by a few thrill-seeking cowards in black masks who have zero understanding of, or respect for, the purpose of protest.


Riveted to my TV screen, I watched in horror as the city I love became a broken, burning bedlam.


I was furious. Outraged. I swore, I screamed, I changed my Facebook status to one of fierce condemnation,


Blood boiling, heart pounding, adrenaline coursing through my veins, I became a vehicle of bitterness and rage.


And I hated. I hated the G20 Summit. I hated the leaders and their private jets and their expensive suits and their wives. I hated them for shaking hands and smiling for the cameras and eating at the Fairmont while the city that hosted them was being destroyed. I hated the so-called anarchists who used my city as a platform to spread their vile, vicious non-message. I hated that the media frenzy was no doubt encouraging them. I hated that innocent and well-intentioned people were being unjustly arrested. I hated that poverty issues, gender issues, health issues, and green issues were being suppressed. I hated that the money that was spent on G20 security could have bought one hundred million mosquito nets in malaria-infested countries.


I hated so strongly and vehemently that the hate completely engulfed me. I merged with it, morphed into it. I became the hurricane itself, spewing venomous words and toxic thoughts into the world.


Deepak Chopra once stated, “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”


My stillness had vanished. I had lost it, along with any semblance of perspective.


For a few brief hours I became part of the problem.


Because isn’t that how problems grow? How negativity spreads? How hate circulates? How fear propagates?


When we lose sight of who we are and allow ourselves to be overtaken by external circumstances we, quite simply, lose altogether.


I know this. And not in a superficial sense but in an innate and profound way. I know this.


And yet, with jets roaring overhead and sirens blaring in the distance, the innate and profound knowing that exists in my core dissolved almost entirely.


Almost.


At around 2am on Sunday morning, while I obsessively followed the tweets of those witnessing the brutality downtown, something happened: the hardened shield encircling my heart, obstructing all feelings but anger and hate, began to crack. I could feel the fissures snaking up, down, and around, allowing slivers of light to shine in.


I paused. Breathed. Closed my eyes. Opened myself up to the stillness of tranquility. Of safety. Of love.


I stayed in this place of inner joy and peace for a very long time, letting go of my anger, my hate, my fear, my frustration, allowing wave after wave of comfort and contentment to wash over me.


This is where power begins. In this place of genuine passion and purpose. Here, there is clarity.


Here, there is hope.


Numerous studies have been done, in recent years, to substantiate the claim that energy, in all its forms, has a deep and lasting impact on people, animals, and the planet itself.


The Global Coherence Initiative is a collaborative research project which studies the relationship between living beings and the Earth’s magnetic fields. Studies have in fact demonstrated a correlation between changes in the Earth’s magnetic fields and changes in a variety of biological functions (brainwaves, nervous system activity, heart rhythm, memory, etc.) Incredibly, researchers also hypothesize that the Earth’s fields can be directly impacted by human emotions.


The significance of this cannot be overstated: human emotions may play a key role (the key role) in the well-being of all living things and of the planet itself.


Though we cannot see it, energy spreads. It reaches far and wide. It communicates. It connects. It activates. And, as such, it can provoke change. It can transform conflict into cooperation, discord into harmony. It can balance imbalances.


This is not some airy new-age concept, but a phenomenon that many modern scientists do not deny: human energy can heal the world.


Let us remember this.


During times of crisis, of despair, of oppression. During times of fear, of distress, of injustice. During times of sorrow, of misfortune, of pain, let us remember this.


Resorting to violence and hatred, though oftentimes tempting, is never the answer.


Stillness is the answer.


And by stillness I don’t mean inaction. Action is critical. Protests are crucial. Expression is essential. But the acting, protesting, and expressing must come from a place of stillness, of knowing, of authenticity, of love.


We are more powerful than we know. The future is, quite literally, in our hands.


In our hearts.



***

Here is a tribute to the peaceful protesters who marched, sang, danced, and hoped. I celebrate you.


What the Media Ignored.



***

This week’s affirmation: Though chaos surrounds me, my heart is still.

1 comment:

  1. This is beautful. Thank you for sharing these words.
    Thank you further for the well wishes. I am excited to hear of your endeavours in nutrition; food is so emotionally charged and filled with stories. It is one of my favourite aspects of holistic healing.
    Please stay in touch. I've begun to follow you.
    Be well,
    Em

    ReplyDelete