Another Great Virtual Event

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A New World

I have been spending a lot of time doing online courses and taking advantage of free webcasts that have to do with the planetary shift that we are clearly going through.  The frequency of earthquakes and natural disasters that wipe out entire towns, ending lives, foisting crisis upon crisis on humanity as we know it today, tells me that the shift is real and it is now. Others call it the Apocalypse, but I prefer The Shift. Anyone who lives consciously will know it's real.

Apart from world events, there seem to be pockets of violence and unrest alarmingly near us. I read about them in the papers, like our kababayans who are in death row as I write this, the recent wave of uproar over the treatment of a little boy on local television, the Senate hearings and our actions and reactions to it, murders, breaches of trust and security in our own neighborhoods--these are all part of this planetary movement that is bringing us to a place of greater human evolution.

There is a very involved online course coming up for those of you who are interested in being active participants in this shift.  I share it now if you are able and interested:





You can also listen to Barbara Marx Hubbard's teleseminar, Birth 2012: Co-creating a Planetary Shift,which is a great introduction to the course and gives a fantastic picture of the shift and how you can participate in it.

Times are changing and though there is much death, destruction and fear, there is a way through that is coherent, positive, life-changing and life-giving, where we can be agents of this change rather than passive victims of seemingly random events.

Isn't it wonderful that we have a choice?

Anybody Home?

I wrote this in May, 2002, but my good friend, Jeannie, recently asked for a copy.  It's still relevant. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for asking, Jeannie!

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I spend a lot of time emailing and texting.  At first glance, these electronic devices seem to be the best inventions of our time, but zoom in and they start to look like frighteningly inhuman substitutes for communication.  Email and text hasten the pace of life in a way that seems unnatural, even unnecessary.  Worse, I feel this type of communication is creating a new dimension in human relationships that is built on virtual space; where, in places of isolation, feelings of warmth and conviviality are cleverly mimicked and carelessly traded.

I often sit in front of my laptop and gape at the nature and content of letters I get from total strangers. The Internet seems to unleash a side of us that is completely unafraid to swap intimacies because, without a human witness, we feel protected--uncharacteristically bold—free to say things we normally wouldn’t; as if the things we say online and via text are not things we are completely responsible for but words we can let loose and then hide behind.

I know I am guilty of the same crime; that I have crossed boundaries I should not have.  I know that I have also fallen for the false illusion of intimacy and privacy from this one-dimensional screen that seems to have enticed an entire population to engage in virtual familiarity.  It has become too easy to start a correspondence with people you don’t know and then think you have genuine friendships going.  Pretty soon you expect certain names to appear in your mailbox and start to feel anxious when a day (horrors, a full day!) passes without so much as a forwarded joke from your newfound buddies.

Email and text operate on a whole new dimension of time, not unlike the tenuous world of credit where transactions are made upon the idea of money.  We can be with so many people simultaneously: discussing our children with their teachers, exchanging silly jokes with a friend, flirting with our boyfriends, commiserating with a sister—most likely when we are stuck in traffic en route to a real time, face-to-face appointment.  I wonder where this is taking human relationships. I worry about what it does to the natural rhythm of the human soul.

The only person, as far as I know, who has written anything about it is Robert Sardello in his book, “Freeing the Soul From Fear”:  The Internet, for example, seems to be a revolutionary technical achievement. No one thus far, however, has developed the imagination to look at it in terms of its impact on soul life.  While the Internet is touted as the greatest tool of communication since printing, it may well be a kind of double of communication.  Look at how much is erased by relating in cyberspace.  The body is excluded, the nuances of speaking eliminated, the importance of what is left unsaid, gone.  E-mail, for example, is not at all like writing a letter.  E-mailing is typically done in haste.  We expect an immediate answer. Communication has more or less been reduced to the transfer of information.

I think Sardello’s thoughts are worthy of an in-depth study on how email and text are transforming the ways in which we communicate and how that affects our relationships.  Electronic communication (the way people have come to depend on it) definitely has an impact on soul life—one that I perceive to be limiting, debilitating, life-extracting.  This one-dimensional communication allows us to enjoy a false sense of union with another yet frees us from the usual involvement and responsibility that real, life-nourishing relationships require.  Has anyone stopped to measure its price?

So much is lost in virtual communication; so much given away.  I know people who have shared intimacies online that cannot be duplicated in person, precisely because it is so glaringly one-dimensional. Most of the time it’s about projecting your feelings, mood, desires, emotions on another because you are the only living being in that space at that particular point in time.  The exchange, if it can be called that, is half-imagined.  All you have are words. Because you are accustomed to so much more, the tendency to let your own interpretation supply the rest is overpowering.

A friend was talking about a bad fight he had with his ex-wife.  He described her text.  Then his. Then the total misinterpretation party they had that inevitably ended in a shouting match.  They had completely misread each other’s one-dimensional responses, assigning malice where there might have been none; inviting the full force of years of resentment to ride on imagined venom. There’s the danger.  If you are of a certain mindset or emotional state, that flat screen can be a portal into communication hell.

It shouldn’t be a surprise then, that when you see someone you know mainly onscreen, you feel you are in front of a stranger, no matter how long and involved the emails you’ve exchanged. The gap between the person you imagined and the one before you is overwhelmingly vast. How many words would you have chosen not to say if you had that person before you as you typed your texts or emailed messages?  Quite a few I bet. You would have listened, watched and added the gestures, pauses, shifts and sighs into a comprehensive whole, before choosing to say something or nothing at all. 

Never mind those of us who have experienced a world before email and text. I worry more for the children and teenagers who are growing up with these electronic substitutes almost surgically attached to their fingertips.  I wonder what it is doing to their relationships, their ability to deal with people; to read, discern and judge their own feelings and those of the people in their lives.  I wonder about the long-term effects on their social development. I fear it is fragmenting their already fragile souls at a most confusing time in their lives; in this crucial time in humanity when we are being called, more than ever, to strive towards wholeness.

I’d like to think this is yet another challenge for us to be present; to make sure we are aware and alert behind the wheel. I suppose the trick is to cultivate a keen sense of who and where we are and what our purpose is, especially when we begin to lose ourselves in the rhythm of our keypads.  It is important that we take the lead; that we are not sucked into the dark by the electronic undertow; that we do not rely on these machines for the cultivation of friendship and love.  It might be helpful to remind ourselves that email and text are mere devices; conveniences not to be abused. 

The only human relationships that stand a chance in this world are those born and nurtured in human spaces, where expressions can be read and met with real-time responses.  Nothing can take the place of tenderness mirrored in the eyes of a beloved, a hint of imperfect smile, a reassuring touch on a tear-muddied cheek.

Next time you lose your phone or can’t retrieve your mail, relax. Flex your fingers, hold hands, look into someone’s eyes.  Take your soul out for a walk. It might be a great day yet.

Deep Breaths

Deep, coherent, measured breaths. You'll be amazed what this can do for you. I've been doing this, cultivating feelings of joy and appreciation as well and I know it has helped me deal with what's going on in the world.  The planetary shift is upon us in bigger, more radical waves and we can't be swayed by fear and hysteria, and that is difficult to do because we are facing monumental challenges. These challenges have a lot to do with humanity waking up to a new world--a new consciousness.  There is much death and destruction, but it is also a time for great renewal and creativity.

We can be co-creators of this change if we harness our inner resources.  In Japan, despite the destruction, people are coming together in such profound ways.  Food is being left on doorsteps, people are constantly checking on one another. Everyone is suddenly grateful for the little things they used to take for granted. Countries are coming together. Everywhere, people are reaching out to each other, which I firmly believe is exactly what is needed in order for the shift to take place more smoothly.

It will not be an easy ride, but if we keep working on ourselves and strengthening that in us which always prevails, we will be the bridge towards this new world.  Scary, yes, but also very exciting.

Those of us who have heart and home intact, would do well to redirect (if we haven't already) our lives and start living it out of our true purpose, whatever it is. There is not one more day to lose.

Deep breaths and march on!

Political Will!!!

Look at this!  I was so happy when I saw this at the Alabang Town Center yesterday.  This bread shop was closed apparently because it just went on using plastic. Hmmmph. I'm so glad the local government did this to show they mean business.

This is a good start and I hope that retail establishments do the right thing.  We already know that too much plastic--plastic bags, especially--harm the environment, yet many stores wait until there is a law to do something about it. There are stores that use paper bags in branches covered by this law, but who continue to use plastic in areas where there is no law. Bad. That's just plain moral laziness. We keep bickering about our government, but this is one instance where I feel they're doing a great job, but now the people have to get with the program.

Get with it!

WhiteSpace LOVE!

Activating Your Heart's Intelligence

                                            

I hope it's not too late to get you to jump on this. Here in Manila the course starts in a little over an hour, but I just got this in the mail yesterday and jumped on it. I believe this is the way of the future and I hope to catch you there.