From Independence to Connection
Hello again!
Well, tomorrow is “Independence Day.” As I’m sure you can imagine from my last email, I have some muddy feelings about this holiday right now. But there is actually more that’s been on my mind about this than the understanding of our nations “original mission,” “history,” “freedom” and “values.”
I have been searching for meaning around our struggles in the past few months (well, years, but its ramped up lately). Through my own spiritual experiences and explorations, I believe that everything happens for a reason and I often find solace in considering the longer view and the possible meaning that could come from struggles.
We cannot know now what will come of these struggles or what meaning they have. But, I do have an idea based on my own experiences, perspective and insights from other sources. The basic idea is that I believe we are shifting:Shifting from being focused on the individual to focused on the collective.Shifting from being focused on ME to focused on WE.Shifting from being focused on independence to connection.
During this pandemic, we are being directly called upon to sacrifice our individual freedoms and conveniences in order to care for the collective. We are being asked to put the health, safety, rights and needs of others before our own personal success and gain.
Last year, when I was having a particularly hard time, a friend came to visit me. After I shared my tears, my struggles and fears with her, she asked me if I knew about the Age of Aquarius. I remember being curious but also totally skeptical. My only knowledge of the Age of Aquarius was because of the 1960 song by The 5thDimension, which I heard in “Forest Gump” (and the musical “Hair”). Well, it turns out the lyrics of that song actually have serious significance and ring true. Here’s what I’ve learned about this (and clearly there is FAR more to this than what I’m sharing), and yes, this is a little woo woo, but bear with me if you can:
For over 2000 years (literally until 2000 – yes, it curiously coincided with Jesus), we were in the Piscean Age, which was about individualism – evolution, power, success, and to me, about the individual ego. And now, we are/have been shifting into The Age of Aquarius, which is more about the collective, equality, being instead of doing, and interconnection.I was pretty stunned when I first learned this, because it went along with everything I had been seeing personally, with my clients, and with the world. How had I not known about this?! And if it was supposed to be moving in this direction, why all the struggle?
There has clearly been an even larger upswelling lately of what I see as self-directed living and pretty blatant narcissism in our culture and in the world. It shows up in self-obsessed leadership, wealth discrepancies, supremacy and oppression, politics, global warming, you name it. Well, apparently during a shift this significant, there will be those that vehemently fight against the change to try to keep it from happening. So they will fight and fight and fight. I believe that the stronger the ego, the harder it is to untangle because there is more to resist. But that is not where we’re headed.Instead, the collective is shifting (I hope!) towards a larger focus on community and connection. Away from living from and for the ego and living from and for the soul (I’ll share more about this soon – I know that’s a big statement). And I’ve been considering if part of the shift is that we need to be pushed. I often find that things need to get pretty bad before I let go and make significant change. So, I’ve been wondering if the people/leaders pushing the ME-focused way of being (toxic individuality) are actually pushing us towards our own truer nature of being WE-focused on the collective, community and connection.
As we move through this transformation as a community, a culture, a people, it is important that we honor and notice what comes up for us personally. I’ve been going through my own challenging process which I can now see has largely been about breaking down my ego and shifting away from everything being about me and towards the collective focus. I know that many others have also been finding themselves doing this work and I hope you can see it for what it is – it is not pretty or pleasant, but you are here and doing this work for a reason - our personal untangling is an essential part of this shift.
So, as you celebrate “Independence Day” tomorrow, I invite you to consider the possibility that we are part of a great shift from ME to WE consciousness, moving towards a culture of connection, and notice how that is unfolding for you. I am always here if you want to connect.
Thinking of you.
In love and light,
Devin Green
The Connected Way™