Happy 2010!
A new year is well under way and all I can say is – Thank goodness! Last year was truly a year I would like to forget. .Just leave it behind and look forward. So far so good. January has been O.K. and February is feeling like it just might be a turning point. A chance to regroup and start to do things a little differently. I am not alone in this feeling. Many of my clients have expressed a sense of ending things that do not serve them, whether it be a job, a relationship or even the way they look at the world around them.
I was talking to a dear friend of mine who is a healer about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. She pointed out that the energy that was released and shook that ground not only sent physical shockwaves throughout the world but also emotional and spiritual tremors as well. We all feel it in our lives. Look around and see how this has infiltrated our unconscious. People seem more on edge. More prone to frustration or anger. Even here, far away from the epicenter we understand that things can shift and change in an instant.
The upheaval of the bedrock beneath us does strange things to our psyches. Some people recognize that this is a time to be able to let go of the known and familiar and move toward being more flexible and creative. Others will decide to hunker down and stay put. But whatever we do, there is no denying that our world has been shaken.
In the tarot deck, the Tower would be the obvious representation of this earthquake – a natural disaster that has long term consequences. And the lesson of the tower is that we can now see what lies underneath all of the beliefs and structures that dominate our lives. Then comes the question – “What do I do now?” “How do I rebuild the world in me and around me?”
I heard an interview with a well known, activist musician from Haiti who offered a very insightful, spiritual, if you will, view of this catastrophe. He said that when the earthquake destroyed the government buildings which housed a very corrupt and ineffectual leadership, the people on the streets saw that as a sign of hope. Out of the ashes of despair and poverty there has grown hope for a change. Maybe, with the continued help and hope of other nations they can build a stronger, healthier and more peaceful place. I hold that hope.
When your world is shaken by the force of unseen events what do you hold onto? What beliefs lie underneath the bedrock of your life? And after the rubble has been cleared what will you do?
As we slowly head out of the grey and rain of winter it seems like a good thing to ponder. By the time the sun reappears we might have a better idea of who, what and where we are going.