Last month, I touched upon how spirituality requires action as well as good intentions. I want to dive deeper into this concept because this is a key question of our times. What can we do to help the world become a more loving place?
I will summarise the answers I received to this question through my shamanic journeying and dowsing. My perspective only has value if it resonates with you, so please take what you want from these words and no more.
There are 3 layers of personal action that showed to me, so 3 areas in which we can play our part for global change. I expect you can add many more examples, this is just my list to trigger deeper reflection:
1. Thoughtful personal living
– Gratitude for all we appreciate in our lives
– Practicing moderation
– A light impact on the planet, so a gentle use of the resources we have – emotional and spiritual as well as material.
– A light travel footprint
– Local food sourcing
– Knowing the ethical footprint of all purchases
– Prioritising personal self-care
– Deep connection with nature
– Working towards living in alignment with your value systems
– Kindness of words
2. Community presence
– Being a good neighbour, so reaching out beyond your nuclear family to the wider community
– Moving towards a way of living that celebrates and includes all children, not just your own. This requires a communal rather than competitive attitude to parenting, creating the ‘village’ needed to raise our children.
– Work that serves your community, considering how we can all collaborate in food growing, land sharing, child caring, play and personal development.
– Honouring your family lineage and culture and that of others. Living in a way that sees how different cultures can work together and share strengths to support the world in unity.
– Sharing your wisdom and experience, recognising the skills you have and making them available to others, whether practical, creative, spiritual or system changing.
3. Global influence
– Protest and non-compliance where necessary
– Charitable donations when possible
– Petitions
– Writing to corporations, politicians and other leaders where they do not fully represent your needs or values
– Prayer and vision holding, ensuring that the outcomes you energise are held loosely, thereby avoiding the risk of condensing what we cannot fully know or understand into a finite idea of what is good or bad, right or wrong.
The goal in these actions is to create a platform of energy that holds a space for the world we might wish to live in, which I would suggest for most of us is not the world as it currently exists.
When I journeyed shamanically, I was shown a fast flowing river, with the water representing the almost irresistible power of the current narratives of fear, greed, dogma, inequality and despair. People were rafting down the river, and in going with the current seeming to have a relatively managable experience. Others were resisting being swept down and were holding on to tree branches projecting from the bank.
I was shown that those trying to live with love and respect can only hold themselves on the edge of the torrent right now because it is hard to escape its power completely. This transitional place is a good opportunity to look for coalitions that celebrate our differences as strengths, not sources of fear.
Taking the imagery as a whole, it begs the question – what will it take for the majority of us to escape the powerful torrent of mainstream dynamics that tries to keep us trapped?
For me, the way out can only come when the torrent itself is stopped, so we can all climb out of that particular river and forge a new path of our own making. This means paradigm change, a shift beyond what our own loving compassion can achieve on its own. It needs a higher plan.
I have something exciting to share on this, but enough for now. I am going to break with normal traditions and send two newsletters this month, the final one in 2 weeks so we can finish the year on a note of optimism and potential. Please do watch your inbox.
With love
Andrew