THE ‘NEW NORMAL’, THE NEW YOU?
There is a change in the air, do you feel it? And it is not until we take to the air that we can ever hope to land ourselves in a new place. In a new mindset. On a new shore. It does require a leap of faith though, and an optimism that we can make it to the ‘other side’.
As we mark the anniversary of the first lockdowns in the UK, we have an opportunity to reflect back on what we’ve all been through. Of what we’ve endured, and learnt, about ourselves, each other and the planet. Reading a survey the other day about insights gained during lockdown, 48% of people said that they now know how to run their homes more efficiently and sustainably, 31% will recycle more and 14% now grow their own fruit and vegetables.
From a personal health perspective, 40% of people said that they now walked more than before. 32% anticipate working from home more and a third will do less travelling to work. Interestingly, 18% of young people from 16-24 say the last 12 months has been better than average, compared to just 1 in 10 for older adults.
Could it be that our youth already sense the opportunity that is possible out of the current times of crisis? That there is, indeed, opportunity waiting on the other side when we are brave enough to imagine what might really be possible?
During any type of structured personal therapy, we often refer to how things have to get a little worse before they have the chance to get better. Of having to touch the root of our pain, before being able to transform it into some sort of new awareness. Some semblance of a valuable insight or personal gift.
On a global scale too, various events have happened over the past year which have served to liberate unconscious biases, prejudices and fears which have languished for too long in the shadow of the human psyche: issues around race, gender, sexuality and inequitable reward for those in society who contribute the most to the quality, health and sustenance of our day to day lives. Lockdown, it seems, has enabled us to have that deep Spring clean of our collective consciousness. To move around furniture that has grown too used to its spot and to bring things out of the cellar of our minds into the clarifying light of day. The Spring clean is rarely pleasant, but things always look, and feel, better after it’s done:
“Everything that’s brought into the light eventually becomes the light.” St Paul.
As I talk at length about in my book, ‘Wake Up - What Are Your Emotions Really Telling You?, we need to fully feel in order to heal. To plummet the depths of our psyche to discover the power of our own healing light before being able to shine it, bravely, out into the world. A new world which now awaits.
Perhaps that’s why this enforced period of lockdown, of personal reflection, of confusion and loss, has been so tough on us all. We’ve all had to face the great existential questions of life: What gives me personal meaning? Who I am really when old ways of seeing and identifying myself have been stripped away? How do I best pay homage to the friends, colleagues and family members who have been lost?
Most of us, at some point in our lives, are called upon to contemplate such soul searching questions. Usually our minds become focussed when we face some personal crisis or solitary awakening. What is so unique about our current times is that we are all being called to contemplate these questions together, as one, giving rise to the often quoted phrase ‘We’re all in this together.’ The world, it appears, is going through a period of what could be called ‘group therapy’.
But, as the distant light draws us slowly through this transformational tunnel in which we find ourselves, the optimism, and opportunity, of our eventual emergence dawns brighter. Indeed, a fundamental interpretation of emergence is the appearance of new properties, or species, following a course of evolution. Could it be that we have evolved following a period of enforced hibernation? That there is a beautiful, more colourful, less self-obsessed butterfly waiting to emerge from the chrysalis tunnel?
The fact that we’ve all worked through similar personal challenges at the same time gives us the unique opportunity to unite in our joint vulnerability. In our fragility. In our common humanity. To recognise, and develop, the healing properties of empathy, of understanding, and of kindness, as we all touch the core of our mutual existential pain. No doubt, this kind of new awareness has given rise to the unifying social media tag lines that simply read: ‘Be Kind.’
In the chapter in my book entitled Grief, I refer to the new spiritual awareness that awaits us on the other side of the journey through the pain of grief and loss. As we come to terms with the given that we live in a Universe of constant transition, growth, change….and evolution. Indeed, that the true mastery of LIFE lies in surrendering to the reality that we are Living In Flowing Existence. And to trusting that the Universe is flowing with purpose and direction.
Whether we want to live from fear or from love I believe is the choice that now faces us all. Whether we choose to live ‘below the line’ in fear: unconscious, defended, ego-centred, rigid, closed, irresponsible and clinging. Or ‘above the line’ in love: conscious, open, curious, creative, responsible and able to see our emotions, and challenges, as messengers and opportunities to grow….
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.” Rainer Maria Rilke.