New Moon Grace - the Virgin* speaks

Things are complicated these days. Yo, things are a hot mess! Have you noticed? It’s super easy to check out and get real self-absorbed, not pay attention – but when you do pay attention – damn, the world really seems like it’s falling apart, amiright? Ice is melting in the arctic. The Amazon is burning. Our oceans are being trashed. The air quality in the world’s biggest cities makes us sick. We’ve got textbook case fascists in power in numerous countries around the world. Race tensions are at an all-time high from sea to shining sea. Children practically come out of the womb addicted to screens, sucking their attention and life force right out of them. Many of the clothes-shoes-accessories we wear are made by borderline slaves in developing countries. Everything seems to be completely on edge and on the brink of disaster. And it’s super easy to spin around, point a finger every which way and find someone or something to blame. It’s the white people! It’s the brown people! It’s the greedy, rich mother fuckers! It’s the meat-oil-banking-fill-in-the-blank industrial complex! It’s sex addiction! It’s the opioid crisis! It’s fake news! Argh! Fuck everybody! We’re doomed!

The fact is, if you’re reading this, you’re part of the problem. Yes, you. And I am too. We all are. Starting with the screen used to read these words. It has tiny parts mined from some of the poorest countries in the world. The fossil fuels used to ship this screen around the world. The amount of money required to purchase the device. The language necessary to comprehend has its roots in some people being educated enough to read them and others not. (Jeez, why can’t some people just be content to be poor and uneducated?) And on and on. I’ve merely brushed the tippy tip of this (melting) iceberg, yikes.

The series of dependencies that trigger the dominoes to fall make my heart ache. You know why? Because there isn’t just one answer. Well, actually there is. 

The fact is, if you’re reading this, you’re inherently also part of the solution. Yes, you. And I am too. We all are. How do we harness this collective situation to affect the change we desperately need to see in the world? To clarity. To kindness. To summon the courage to take action. To face our demons and offer them an olive branch. To Love. Starting with ourselves and those in our immediate circles. Starting with those who might read or hear our words. And then seeing and hearing and feeling the ripples of that Love move in and through us. To be brave, really brave, and to start making changes in our lives, one by one.

What kinds of changes? *Raises hand*  In the spirit of moving forward and making changes in our lives that might prove helpful, here are a few ideas - maybe some of these will feel right in your world too:

• Be softer with yourself and others. 
• Consider volunteering in your community to help out where you can on an issue that matters to you.
• Vote (especially in your local elections), better yet, run for office if that feels right.
• Consume news from reputable sources where they have trained journalists in the field reporting back in a credible manner. Ignore click bait on social media!
• Consider becoming vegetarian or eating less meat to lessen your carbon footprint in a profound way. (I bet you cash money that a vegan driving a Hummer has less of a carbon footprint than a meat eater driving a Prius.)
• Invest your nest egg money into socially conscious funds – don’t let your retirement money be made on the backs of slaves. (I know an investor guy who can help you do this if you need a referral.)
• Consider forgiving your mom and dad (and whomever else might have hurt, betrayed, abused you in some way).
• Get your house in order. Do the laundry. Clean out your closets. 
• Learn to meditate.
• Sing-Paint-Write-Play!
• Dance! 
• And of course calling things out by speaking truth to power and greed is also important – but in a spirit of courageous transparency, not blame.
• Deeply consider living by the Golden Rule – especially when you don’t want to.

Oooo and here’s another idea – let’s just go ahead and drop that collective, heavy angst like a sigh of relief. All together now: take a deep inhale and let’s feel that pent up bitterness slough off like a long drink of cool water. Or like the easy, dreamy sigh after amazing sex with someone you love. Or like forgiving Donald Trump completely and totally and then electing someone super smart and capable to steer this country’s ship. 

And finally – pray. That might sound super cheesy and ineffective but the truth is that bringing something into your active consciousness in an ongoing way is extremely powerful. It’s how Vision Boards and Lobbyists alike get the job done. Pray for the softening of hardened hearts (including your own) because that brings important issues to top of mind, creating a breeding ground for creativity, opportunity, openings that can sometimes lead to big, effective change.

Because we can all acknowledge that human life on earth is super connected and complicated and yet we’re the only ones who can simplify and untangle this mess, shy of a friggin’ asteroid crashing into our planet (or pandemic!) and forcing us to. In the end, all humans want (and need) the same things, regardless of background, religion, race or any other way we might segment ourselves. Clean water to drink. Clean air to breathe. Access to good education. The opportunity to make art. Let’s find the handful of things that we ALL agree on and move forward with a no nonsense and yet focused and direct approach in our individual lives and let it ripple out and maybe even inspire others. There are no enemies; except ourselves to each other. Everything has the potential to simply fall into place effortlessly, with perfect divine timing.

I might sound super naïve but I speak the Truth. The secret is in the Heart. It always has been. It always will be. I’ve sat through a few deaths this past year and ages ago I supported a midwife (in an office job capacity) where I witnessed several hundred births. I speak with some authority on this subject. We’re all born and we all die. Those two events are totally guaranteed, 100% of the time for 100% of us. Birth and death are as mysterious as it gets. (Where are you before you’re born and after you die? I dunno!) Why not make the time here something you can be proud of, that your grandmother would be proud of? That you know your children will be proud of? Besides, the more graceful the entrance and exit we are able to facilitate for each other, the more the Heart opens and the more we can see and realize these things. 

When I start getting sucked into the doomsday, I remember that I’m confident in our collective abilities to know real Love and be the change we desperately need to see in the world. And I know that in the end we’re all whole, we’re all complete and we’re all comprised of Pure Love. We’re all in various stages of comprehending the greater mysteries in the deepest reaches of the “beyond” and even the beyond-the-beyond. We just get clouded and confused sometimes, especially when we let fear take over our person and start running our personal narrative. And something along those lines is happening now at a scale so big and scary that it really does seem like we’re in a massive decline. And maybe we are. If and when we destroy our planet for human life, the sun will still shine, the moon will still glow and the stars will still align, folks, with or without us. Everything will eventually recalibrate and life will go on. Who knows, Mother Earth might be kicking us out because we’re pretty terrible residents these days. 

Finally, here’s a little ditty I’ll share. It’s a series of words that I say before I eat but also when I start freaking out about all the shitty things. It’s all-purpose and works for me in literally any situation and on every level. I didn’t “write it” but it certainly came “through me” and it sums up anything I ever wanted to say about anything ever.…

May all beings be happy and free.
May all beings be happy and free.
May all beings be happy and free.
May the world know Peace and may it begin with me.
With Clarity, Kindness and Courage.
May it be so, Amen.

Steal away and repeat as often as needed. Make it a go-to mantra when times are amazing and when times are terrible. I'll tell ya, when I get turned around and feel lost and helpless and don't know what to do - this prayer works for me every time. It clears me just enough to take the very next step, whatever it needs to be. 
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May it be so, ba-bam! 

*Virgin as in Virgo - she who is Whole, Complete and Sovereign unto Herself to Love and Move as She Desires.