If the microcosm reflects the macrocosm are we in a mass state of delusion trying to save the planet? The idea that we need to save the planet has perplexed me for some time. Partly because I think Mother Nature can take care of herself. Take nuclear waste eating mushrooms as an example!
But mostly because once a person begins working on themselves, it is a natural progression that they start to make more conscious choices that are pro planet. So why not begin with our inner selves or concomitantly do both the clean up of the planet and address a fragmented psyche .
WARNING BEFORE YOU KEEP READING… Naturo blogs can be opinionated, explicit & raw. “The universities do not teach all things, so one must seek out old wives, gypsies, sorcerers, wandering tribes, old robbers, and such outlaws and take lessons from them. One must be a traveler… Knowledge is experience.” Paracelsus
I see many of the social justice movements, like the current extinction rebellion, a distraction from self and from real causes of societal problems. Protesters I have conversed with although highly book smart and politically well versed, lack self awareness, understanding and ownership of, well, themselves! Pointing the finger to action needed outside of what lurks within. Many of whom are young and in need of something to direct their anger into. I was a vile teenager, protesting would have been a more healthy outlet for my anger than the choices I made. So who am I to judge or direct ones journey. It’s all part of their/our collective process. BUT I do wander how much waste would stop being consumed if we all cleaned up our inner worlds and reconditioned our societal beliefs. Through finding our own voice and not echoing a media-puppet’d brash and boring broadcast.
Self Enquiry and action
Gone are the days of needing to SHOUT a message to be heard. Herd mentality is not necessary. Enough people are clued up and aware that all it takes for inner growth is for someone to sit in the presence of those who are present and they will wake the f up to themselves. This is the aim of the game. All else is a distraction.
Unfortunately the intellect gets in the way. As does technology, a wealth of information that reduces us to the brain-mind, instead of body-mind. Or heart, the true antenna of knowledge and wisdom. The heart knows but while it is distracted by the mind, ignorance persists.
Saving the planet has become trendy. The way the youth rebel today is by acting responsibly. And a culture that encourages this is indeed healthy nobody can deny that.
But do we create culture or does it create us? Cult-u-re.
Tis all a game, do you need to be in it to win it? Or can we choose to step outside the lines and break through to the other side, with awareness and perspective. Living alone outside of any culture and community for a period of time allowed me to see its influence and how impenetrable culture is.
So are we manufactured into submission? Is protesting a staged complacency act?
Have you heard the word game changer thrown around much recently??
I played with words repeating them to my clients and friends to see how quickly they repeated the expressions back to me. It was extraordinary and also a little scary that I could have such an impact. It showed me that we are all a product of our environment. Reflecting ourselves to each other. We mirror and copy cat in circles. Unless we become the observer; think for ourselves; analyse thoughts, and we are FEELING our own emotions we are not in the drivers seat. We are cult-ured. Applying it’s biological meaning: cultured-cell tissues or bacteria being grown or propagated in artificial medium, “cultured tumour cells”.
Alike “game changer” and “next level”, authenticity has become another buzz word. Healthy buzzwords might I add, possibly hinting our shift to a new paradigm. I hope that the splashing vulnerable elements of self over facebook has become yesterdays version of authenticity. I read somewhere that ‘not everyone deserves to know or see the real you’. I wholeheartedly agree.
The process of becoming your wholesome self is a sacred one and what is sacred is secret.
So this display of authenticity across social platforms is just an egoic need for attention, validation and social acceptance. All of which are warranted human needs. But taking a shit on your camera screen is probably more authentic than exposing how you feel to a world of people who don’t know or really care about the real you. So let’s drop authentic and instead quietly get real. Same applies to looking after the planet, the work needs to be internal for it to be sustainable.
I can’t deny that looking after your immediate environment does eventually lead to looking after yourself. However this seems to be an arduous route. And for some it is a destructive one.
Just like fasting for 42 days to gain more awareness. The less you eat the lighter you become and the more connected you feel to your surroundings but if you were to do a multitude of presence practices, face emotions and a short juice cleanse like the RN-Cleanse you may reach a level of wholeness more quickly and enjoyably. Life doesn’t need to be hard. By ignoring the psyche we are conditioned to punish ourselves in isolation. Don’t. Join RN RealTalk forums to meet others going through the motions.
“We start by removing the inner crud” as Era practitioner Lesley Lewis-Parry states.
We are what we read, see, think and feel. Therefore nothing can evolve externally until we make internal resolution to change the way we see and experience the world.
So to answer the opening question of this blog piece. Yes the part reflects the whole. The macrocosm reflects the microcosm, I am referring to the macrocosm being the external world that culture has trashed and ignored much like the microcosm and going ons of the psyche. I read a beautiful piece on whales and how one whale equates to the empirical impact of 1000 trees to reduce carbon emissions.
When whales die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean; each great whale sequesters 33 tons of CO2 on average, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries. A tree, meanwhile, absorbs only up to 48 pounds of CO2 a year. Read the article here.
The analogy being; whales are unseen, below the water. The element of water, in TCM terms (Traditional Chinese Medicine) reflects emotion. E-motion- Energy in motion. These enormous peaceful mammals are quietly cleansing the man made toxins of the world. Oxygenating the grid of a collective psyche. The brain that webs the world. Trees are cut down as quickly a they are planted in different areas of the world. Much creating a false hope. Alike the movements and protests that do little to make real impact and instigate change.
We must go within to the oceans of our psyche to resolve and decondition old ways so a few, not a force can create evolutionary growth and systemic change.
Beautifully and intelligently written. It’s so easy to loose yourself in the outside world. The more urgent matters seem, the less I turn within. That’s what I noticed with myself this past year. Now I’m refocusing my attention, not forgetting what’s going on in the outside world, but acting from an inside perspective. Thank you!
Thank you for your comment Terah, sounds like you are able to see through the distractions :). Acting from an inside perspective, with clarity is what we hope to achieve for ourselves and others. I believe it takes continued re-focusing and frequent self-enquiring, until one day it simply becomes the norm.