Evolution is not pretty

What’s happening right now on the world stage is evolution writ large. We’re all being pushed to level up, to identify and promote what’s truly important and let everything else fall away. I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of physical evolution but as far as I can tell, after a couple of million years of change and growth, Homo Sapiens appeared. Then only a few thousand years after that poetry, cathedrals, and computers were being invented. As Ken Wilber likes to say Dirt got up and wrote poetry.

Now, after millennia of evolution, we’re under pressure to grow in our hearts and open our minds in a way that will help our species survive the changes and impacts facing us, some of which we have brought upon ourselves. A world centric mind-set (Green in Spiral Dynamics, Post-Modern in Gebser’s model) emerged only around 60 years ago. The birth of the Women’s movement and the explosion of the equal, human, and animal rights movements were triggered by people shifting over from an ethnocentric (Modern or Orange) world view (i.e. me and those who look like me have rights but everyone else, not so much…) Flash forward to 2020 with the LGBTQI and Vegan movements and BLM gaining more and more traction by the day through social media, it feels like the pace has really picked up.

No birth occurs without stretching, pulling, pushing and a bit of shouting and the upheaval we’re all experiencing now is evidence of a wholesale shift in the evolution of what it means to be a human, the opening up of our consciousness and our understanding of the inner universe, not just the one around us.

Evolution is not pretty, BUT IT IS BEAUTIFUL.

And it is necessary.

Some people were pretty happy with where we were headed as a species but many of us felt things could improve. The marriage equality vote pushed a lot of us to open our hearts and embrace our Green (Spiral Dynamics) I went vegetarian around the same time and eating more and more plant-based every day. My son told me that all of his female friends are now vegetarian and vegan whereas just over a year ago, none of them were. Every restaurant has cruelty-free options. Movies, television shows and advertisements show a more diverse range of faces this year than ever before although I am not overly impressed that James Bond is to be played by a woman actor. There’s another option and it’s called make a new story. There are so many brilliant stories out there just waiting to be told; why do we have to keep telling the same old ones? Just my two cents worth but change for the sake of it is probably a waste of time.

We owe it to ourselves and those who will inherit this earth and this culture to grow well. To study, to learn, to listen. To be a role model and a lighthouse. As more people shift into Green we will see the continued tearing down of accepted norms but if we don’t listen, collaborate, and learn we will struggle to function. For example, the idea in some parts of the US to defund the police is a flawed idea based on post-modernist beliefs, that all hierarchy is bad. It’s a faulty Green action. What is truly needed to improve the police is more training, fewer military grade weapons, non-custodial options for non-violent criminals, and real rehabilitation for those who are violent. Just as releasing all the hens from an egg-production plant won’t do anyone any favours, we need to take steps towards a positive outcome for everyone.

As each of us grows we also encourage others to take a look at themselves, not through our urging, or shaming – that never works – but through living well, doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, and good old-fashioned kindness.

2020 has challenged us all in so many ways but growth was never easy. Remember, the rising tide lifts all boats and there are others depending on your transformation.

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I was so disappointed in myself last Monday. I yelled at someone. To be fair, they yelled first but oh my word, I lost my shite! Then I was so mad at myself for reacting. What good is all the meditation if I get triggered by a person who was a) wrong, b) rude, and c) thought they had the backing of those around them (but instead told them to shut up.) After much (typical) thought on the matter, I realised I was hella triggered by the person’s baseless claims.

How many years of meditation it takes to turn into the graceful swan-like person who never reacts to anything?

Asking for a friend…

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The purge has come early.

I usually spend a few hours on New Year’s Day deleting and decluttering my computers and emails. I did this on December 1 this year so I am going into 2021 ahead of the game. I’ve done the same on my social media, unfollowing any account that doesn’t ‘spark joy’ and that includes anything about US politics. I just don’t need that in my life. Truth is, I need to quit Instagram. I am spending about 30 minutes a day on there. That’s time I could spend writing and sometimes I even find myself reaching for it during my meditation time! So in my seemingly never-ending quest to live my best life, I will commit to cutting my Insta scrolling down to just 10 minutes a day.

I’m unfollowing anyone who posts memes about people who unfollow. Oh and anyone who has more than 5000 followers. Reese Witherspoon doesn’t need my follow.