Hello, magnificent Reader,
We're living in some rocky times, I tell ya'.
It's also a great time for opening minds and opening our collective consciousness.
Except for the part where we're bombarded with a helluva lot of bad news, which is mighty distracting.
Yeah, there's a lot of bad news out there, but that doesn't mean there's not (at least!) an equal amount of good going on.
But good news doesn't sell like hotcakes—it doesn't push our buttons.
Good news doesn't tap into our primal, self-protective, ready to fight-flee-freeze-or-fold reactions.
Shining anyway
So here we are being told the sky is all but fallen while simultaneously having fairly good—if not great—things happening in our daily life.
Maybe our job is going well, or we're moving to a new home, or we're having fun hanging out with our family, or we're sitting on the porch having a cold drink in the heat of summer while thinking about how soothing the crickets sound, or we're pleased with the new shoes we just bought, or we got new tires and now the car is driving especially well, or we're laughing with friends, or we're super enthusiastic about a project we're working on, or we're taking a vacation soon, or we just plain like the people we live or work with, or maybe we're in the southern hemisphere and enjoying the especially beautiful night sky of winter right about now.
I'm telling you, my kind and gentle friend, this life can be both beautiful and yes, terrifying at the same time.
This life is not awful only, though that's the vast majority of what we hear.
Meanwhile most of our days are pretty okay.
Maybe even quite good in some ways if we're consciously, purposefully growing: mind, body, and soul.
A lot of people are doing just this, and it's a beautiful thing. Truly!
A lot of people are deliberately, consistently focused on making life all the more beautiful for all of humanity by growing right where they're standing.
A lot of people are just going along, shining their light.
And it's not nothing.
But to the world of Big Important Things We Must Worry About At All Times Even At The Expense of Our Own Introspection, our quaint little personal project is trite.
Insignificant.
Inconsequential.
Of pretty much zero importance.
What we want
The thing is, we all want the same thing. Or at least I think so... and hope so.
Even though our aim is often to somehow correct wrongdoers or prove our right-ness, we're all traveling together on this earthly journey, reaching for what's deeply real.
We all want to feel connected.
We all want to feel whole and alive.
We want people to get along, not fight.
We want the world to be a joyful place, not a violent one.
We want "peace on earth" and to "love one another." We want kindness, sympathy, and empathy. And corny alert, we all want to be loved—and feel loved.
So it stands to reason that if these are the things we want to have and see, then these are the things we ought to create and give.
Yet we're so angry. So pissed off. So afraid.
We're hauling around blame. Someone ought to do better!
And yet our blame and anger aren't actually getting us where we want to go. They're not helping solve any of the problems we want solved.
Looking for it
It's just that we'll never be able to understand a fellow human if we believe what a third party tells us about them.
It's no surprise that disasters bring people together, because so, so often it's only then that we set aside what we may think of someone and just be a human alongside them.
Yet we've all shared a laugh with someone who we knew nothing about outside of that moment. We've all smiled at someone—and been smiled at. We've all held the door for someone. We've all let someone go in front of us in the grocery store line. We've all given someone a couple of pennies at the checkout with no thought of a favor in return. We've all been helped by some miracle worker at the phone or cable company.
These are all clues that the divisions we hold onto keep us from recognizing our shared humanity—which is our shared divinity that we all keep reaching for in our own ways.
I don't so much think we should do away with our differences as much I think that we should listen to and look for what we have in common.
Sounds shallow. Isn't shallow at all.
SO — a manifesto
I believe we each have a responsibility to develop our individual mind, body, and soul in order to develop the collective mind, body, and soul.
I believe that what we create, we receive. (Louise Hay says it this way: What we give out, we get back.)
I believe in respecting the dignity of every human.
I believe we're each on our own journey, which I honor deeply.
I believe we're walking along on our journeys side by side, on this island home we share, orbiting together in this universe. (We're all in this together.)
I believe that like trees woven together deep inside the earth, we're all one being and are all connected—in this life and beyond.
I believe there is a collective consciousness that we're all continually creating together.
I believe that what we see and know is an infinitesimal part of the boundless whole of what is.
I believe we have a responsibility to question everything, everything, everything, and that indeed, our curiosity is part of the divine within us.
I believe that face to face, human to human connection, no matter how seemingly small, is infinitely more important and more sustainably powerful than opinions, positions, reasoning, and politics.
I believe that along with human-to-human connection, nature is another way the divine communicates with (and through) us.
Stay curious!
Fill yourself with light and shine that light, one way or another. Create what you want others to have.
Thanks for reading—I appreciate you very much,
Coco
p.s. Hey bookworm, go see the new books on the Shiny Butter Book List, which is cool and interesting, just like you.
also p.s. Check out the mega-sale on coaching, and even if it's not for you, let someone know—it could make a world of difference for them.
