birthing a new world

Handle with Care

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

the fragile nature of life wanting to be born

I feel as if we are at the cusp of complete and total system collapse and that the end is very near. I’m aware we’ve been holding our collective breaths in anxious anticipation of this moment and praying every day for the insanity to end. With certain political deaths (come on….we all know MM is dead), there just can’t be too many threads left holding this thing together.

The other night, while enjoying live music put on by several young people with whom my daughter attended high school, and chatting with one of the moms about the coming end, she asked a pertinent question:  “When the system finally comes down, it’s going to take years, if not lifetimes to rebuild. How are we going to do this?????”  I responded, “We won’t be doing it, our kids will…….and they are already doing it!” (as I waved my hand in the direction of her son and his friends who organized the performance as a fundraiser for local music programs)

The new is already taking place and piece by piece it is being born. I see it everywhere – in innovative and forward-thinking methods of education; in the changing marketplace where the capitalistic behemoths of shopping malls are quickly being replaced by small, locally owned businesses and on-line shops.  Even in politics, the young are slowly replacing the old and they are coming in with fresh, new ideas, and a vision built on diversity and inclusion, and social justice with the goal of meeting the needs of the common good.

Many sparks of the new are quiet and unassuming, some are bold and have become media darlings. Whether loud or subdued, the tender shoots of new hope are making their way into our world, seeking out a place to take root and grow. As it is with anything just being born, or newly born, with these tender shoots we must handle them with care.

In handling with care, there are several rules to which we must adhere:

Take care not to frighten or overwhelm these new lives. 

As is our nature, when we become excited or hopeful about something new, we often rush in with over enthusiasm and premature over-commitment. Don’t get married to the new until it has fully come on board and you know and understand exactly what it might be.

Give it room to be fully born.

Give the new space as it finds itself. As much as we might want to help support, push it onward, prop it up, cheer it on, our eager interference may not help, but could, in fact, cause harm.

Trust in the process.

Let life unfold on its own. The Universe has an innate wisdom which supports the birth and sustenance of new life. Let the Universe do its job.

Don’t take it personal by attempting to interpret it through an old lens.

I’m seeing this specifically in the field of politics, but it’s true in every case of the new trying to find a home for itself. The example that most readily comes to mind are the words being used to try to describe the new – terms like “Social Democrat,” “Government Owned,” or “Defund.”  I’ve seen people literally lose their minds over these terms when they attempt to interpret them through a “Cold War” lens, immediately dismissing the individual and their platform without taking the time to understand what they mean by these words. 

Equally, those bringing in the new may be served by finding a new language to describe their vision instead of sticking to words that have historically been triggering for some due to their past conditioning.

And finally…..give yourself time and space to grieve.

That which we have known is dying and has been since the time of its inception. A system born out of separation and fear cannot and will not persist – as we are witnessing now. We may be glad for the collapse, but what has been is what we have known, and every time we are faced with the end of what we have known, we suffer grief. So, Weep. Rage. Allow yourself periods of immobility. Acknowledge the denial and bargaining (what if…..if only…..we should have…it will get better) that gives your anxious mind something to do while creating space from the pain of grief. Take care of yourself when the trauma of it all becomes too much. And do not feel guilty when all you need in this moment is to dissociate through social media or with your 8000th viewing of Game of Thrones.

This will all be over soon (not soon enough as many have said), and the new is definitely coming into being – in fact it’s already here.  Where are you seeing it and how is it giving you hope?

Ugh!

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

For the thirty-or-so of you who continue to read my articles, thank you for your patience these past few weeks. In short – this care-giver is all cared out! I know in this I’m not alone.

The past several weeks have been heavy with intensity, anxiety, and dare I say, INSANITY. When I think things just can’t get worse in our world another shoe drops.  Just when I pray, “surely this is the tipping point that will bring the whole house of cards down upon itself,” it is not. It seems instead of wholesale collapse, the empire is dying one mortar chip at a time.

And we are all exhausted from the waiting and weighting. It is heavy work to be a visionary, prophet, lightworker, healer, starborne, starseed, and carer when the only paradigm we have ever known is coming to it’s self-created violent ending. Moreso even than the system itself, we have been bearing, upholding, and supporting those who are finding themselves anxious, frantic, nervous, and worried in the face of a collapse about which they may not even be aware. We have been a source of support for others while desperately trying to be support for ourselves.

For the past several weeks, I have found myself in complete survival mode. Between a world in collapse and some new (not really) health issues that have surfaced, it’s all I can do to get out of bed in the morning – not because I’m depressed – because I am bone weary and soul tired. On my good days, I’m honored when people seek me out for support. On my bad days, I’m sick to death of other people’s shit. (Not everyone’s shit….just those unwilling to tend to their own work.)

Does this make me a bad person? No, it just means I’m tired and as usual, excruciatingly human.

Humans exhaust me. When I’m tired, unwell, impatient, frustrated, and fumbling, I exhaust myself. Again, I know I’m not alone in this. I likely exhaust others. (ha ha).  But seriously, so many who reach out to me speak of their own disgust with themselves.

When the world is turning itself inside out, we can no longer survive as the person we once thought of ourselves as being. As the masks behind which the human-made world are falling away and the evil behind it all is being revealed, our masks also must fall. The masks I have worn are those of perfectionist, good-girl, straight A student, achiever, hard worker, honest, strong, brave, courageous, fiercely independent, and generously loving. Behind these masks, I am these things, but not always. I too am vulnerable, anxious, terrified, jealous, petty, unforgiving, harsh, and the deceit I indulge is that of people pleaser.  “I’m fine,” is a bold-faced lie and while I have love of all humanity, I sometimes wish a violent death upon those I call my enemies – or at the very least – a heaping portion of karmic retribution.

As the world has been collapsing and masks have been torn away, so too have we been forced to admit the full truth of who we are. We can no longer hide behind the expectations of a capitalistic patriarchal society.  Neither can we live under the burden of the driving, striving, and blind ambition favored by our world.

We must live our truth – or die. “Just hanging on” is no longer enough. Instead, we are invited to LET IT ALL GO. Quit trying to fit in. Quit lying to ourselves. Quit trying to be strong. Quit trying to help or care for those unwilling to help themselves. Quit forcing ourselves to take action where no action is needed and where our gifts have been denied. Quit denying the reality of aging and the physical consequences of illness.  Instead, we’re invited to embrace them. (Hollywood, Instagram, etc. beauty standards are simply another part of a world that is dying. Have you seen what is happening to Hollywood actresses? So many of them now look like corpses.  Gross!) Quit pretending we are well when we are not. Quit “faking it to make it.”

And more than anything else:  DARE to love yourself enough to choose what is life-giving for you, even/especially when what is best is to sleep.

And finally, DO NOT forget that if you are one who sees and believes in the hope of a new world, this new world is being born through you. As such, your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies are hard at work growing and getting ready to birth that new world. Be gentle and loving toward yourself as you would be with a brand new babe. In this birthing, we are fragile and vulnerable. Treat yourself as such!

With love,

Lauri