This year has been an initiation and an invitation for us all in so many ways.
Initiation, means to start something. And I deeply feel in amongst the turbulent waves of 2020, there has been a steady undercurrent of consciousness inviting us to rise into radical change, healing and evolution – both individually and collectively.
Some have described it as a global awakening.
What I know about human and spiritual awakening – which essentially is my life’s work – is it is messy, non-linear and continuous. This is not something with a clear cut beginning nor ending.
Once we ‘wake-up’ we can not go back to sleep. We start to see the world through new eyes. And sometimes what we see, hurts. We become aware of things within us and in the world outside of us, that we were previously blind to.
But therein lies the initiation and the invitation. To begin to become aware of what holds us back, keeps us limited, is unsustainable and causes suffering both individually and globally.
And with this new awareness, comes the invitation to change, evolve and create anew if we are willing to accept the invite!
Collectively, I feel we are being initiated into a new global paradigm (more on this in subsequent posts), and with anything new, first comes the loss of the current status quo.
As the year draws to a close and we review the events of 2020, it is clear that we have been moving through a collective cycle of death, loss and grief.
So many of our previous ways of living, working, relating and being are crumbling and falling away.
And with any loss we experience in life – whether it be a job, a relationship, a loved one, a pet or a way of life, comes with it grief, anger, sadness, and pain.
However, despite the darkness, this is a necessary and fertile ground to tread.
We only have to look to the life-death-life cycles present across nature itself, and in our own lives too (because we ARE nature!), to know that death and rebirth is an intrinsic part of our experience.
So what can nature teach us about what we experiencing right now?
As nature shows us so beautifully through the effortless transition of the seasons, for anything new to grow, first the old has to be let go of.
As we transition from autumn to winter in the northern hemisphere the invitation from nature, as all the trees shed their leaves, is to let go.
To let go of all that is heavy.
To let go of all that is outdated.
To let go of all that is no longer fit for purpose.
To let go of all that is ready to die.
In this grand letting go, there is a lightening of the load.
This is a critical and essential phase in creating space for renewal. The renewal of winter. The great rest. The sacred pause. And it’s within the container of the dark winter months, the most work is done.
So whilst we prepare to enter the womb of winter, let this be an invitation to you to tend to your inner garden, and plant your own seeds of intention and creation in the fertile soil of your own awakening consciousness.
A soil which has enriched with the wisdom of your own individual and collective losses of 2020, since rarely is there a more potent teacher than death and loss itself.
Whatever seeds are planted within your life now, know that they will bear new life, growth and promise in a few months time come the Spring.
What do you need to let go of?
What seeds of intention and growth need to be planted?
What have the losses of 2020 taught you?
And if you are reading this from the southern hemisphere;
What new life is ready to bloom for you after the dark months of winter?
What seeds were planted back in March which are ready to show life?
What have you learnt about loss and death as you navigate through 2020?
Let us together enter into this next season of our individual and collective awakening, with optimism and hope that out of the darkness and loss of 2020, the light will come shining forth ever brighter than before.
