2020 Reimagined

One of those mornings.  Feeling a bit trapped, stilted and restrained.

So, I have to be honest with myself and understand that nobody is restraining me, specifically; it’s my own perceptions.

I’m seeing a lot of complaining and gallows humor about how ‘awful’ 2020 is. How punishing and whacky and off kilter this year has been.

The perception of this ‘year’ (I prefer era or transition because we’re only in the first few innings of this) that I’m trying to foster, internally and personally is this:

What if we we look back in 5, 10, 20 years and realize that 2020 was the year we awakened to some things that we’d been asleep to.

What if this year, that we are all slogging through together, is the year that we FINALLY become conscious of so many things that had been undercurrents of our lives and society for a very long time.

It’s totally plausible that the reason for our fear, anger, outrage, confusion, etc is because we are being forced to see and feel things that we’ve kept buried.

We have 240 years of history, some that isn’t all that glorious, that we’ve been afraid to look at, speak of and accept due to denial, shame, group think and our own inherent need to go along with the conventional wisdom.

Or because we are members of one of the various groups that have not really been allowed a voice or full participation.

OR because we are members of the more elevated and privileged groups who don’t have to worry about the struggles, disenfranchisement or oppression of others.

My writing over the past 3-5 years has pointed to this moment. I warned that all of our institutions were on shaky ground and many are literally crumbling.

Financial, economic, educational, military, health care, GOVERNMENT, political, agriculture, media and on and on. All are failing us.

So, they must fail or evolve, so that we can SEE and then begin to reform and re-work them for a new era. One that is more equitable for everyone, rather than the protected classes.

That is what 2020 is ushering in. And yeah…watching everything that we THOUGHT was true, proven wrong, corrupt, murderous, wasteful, damaging, lethal and horribly manipulated by wealthy, powerful interests is shocking.

So, instead of complaining or deriding 2020 as some crazy anomaly that we will recover from and go back to ‘normal’, begin to shift your perspective into what is REALLY happening. Question your beliefs, behaviors, opinions, actions.

Normal is highly overrated and highly dangerous and corrosive to our well being and our nation.

Grow up says The Divine/Cosmos/God, ’cause we won’t let up until you do.

Hello 2021: Phase 2

See the Karma, Release the Karma

Okay, a little astrology today.  Just a little.

We had a full moon in Sagittarius yesterday (also a lunar eclipse, which is a bigger deal) The first one where the moon’s nodes are now in Sagittarius and it’s opposite sign, Gemini.

Without getting into the weeds and losing you: the moon’s south node in Sagittarius is digging up things from the past, while the north node is our future evolution. So one is our legacy, one is our destiny.

The nodes stay in these opposing signs for about 18 months and we work on and evolve in ways that these signs represent. Then they move on and we begin work in other areas. This shift began in early May, so the energies are still new.

In a nutshell, this full moon in Sag is showing us the intransigent and dogmatic beliefs and biases of the past, that we need to let go of. Our karma in a sense.

In this case, racism, oppression, inequity in the African American experience and community.

There is a long history, beginning from the VERY beginning of our settlements and eventually, our actual nation.

We aren’t necessarily supposed to SOLVE this right now. We are supposed to see it, absorb it, process what it means and feel into it from the African American community’s experience. How these beliefs and biases have hung around and stilted THEIR growth and OURS.

Have you seen the protests re: George Floyd in London this morning? MASSIVE. In LONDON!

This is collective (in other words all of humanity) energy that is happening.

So, sit with what we are learning about our history, our negative reactions, our ‘original sin’ toward blacks (and indigenous populations) and feel deeply into what we have wrought, as a nation and society.

This is a call to just recognize it, deeply. Not necessarily a time to SOLVE it. Particularly if we don’t really have any solutions:)

There are a LOT of people who have been thinking about this, working on solutions, etc for a long time. Let them take the lead and leave our internet/armchair expertise alone for now.

Our job is to be conscious of our past and how it has damaged all of us. Humility is called for.

Both Things Can Be True

Something to keep in mind as we try to navigate these confusing times:

Both things can be true

We tend toward binary arguments, decisions and opinions.  We take one side or the other and keep repeating our narratives and talking points, while the other person does the same.

We fight a battle of internet links where we throw them at each other like like spitballs that never land on either side. Hell, we don’t even read the links that we spew at others. “The headline looks like they might agree with me, so what the hell….”

Every opinion or narrative that we believe and the opposing ones, have truth in them.

For instance, I condemn the destruction and violence that’s cropped up during the recent protests. I really do, however, I don’t compare destruction of property with loss of life.

Loss of livelihood does not compare with loss of life.

So, I am devastated by the violence, but I’m also devastated by the video of George Floyd being murdered.

I’m devastated by the destruction to people’s livelihoods, but I’m all for large protests. Both things can be true.

I believe that police are a vital component in a functioning society, while also believing that excessive force that disproportionately affects black communities must be reformed and fixed. Both things can be true.

Use this with EVERY argument. It holds. It involves asking questions; of yourself and the person/idealology that you think you disagree with.

We must think critically now, because there is SO MUCH misinformation, censorship and manipulation combined with heightened emotion. It’s like the fog of war and it’s dangerous if we don’t question everything and try to get at all sides of a situation.

Just like with Covid, the initial ‘reports’ are evolving as more facts and data come out. Our job as citizens and as moral/ethical human beings, is to think, ask questions and take a few beats before we automatically place blame or take sides or dig in, refusing to learn.

Truth is fluid. Truth is often in the eye of the beholder based on life experiences, what media we consume, etc.

Both things can be true…make it your mantra. We need everyone to think clearly and rationally now and that is really the last thing that the ‘powers that be’ want.

That alone,  makes me want to prove them WRONG.