There’s no coming to consciousness without pain.
― C.G. Jung
2020 has been an intense year filled with anxiety. We are in the thick of a great cultural and global transition that started about twenty years ago. Digital technology and social media have put the Big Transition into hyper-drive in the last ten years.
At the Root of the Issues
In addition to all its benefits, technology has preyed on the way our brains operate. The digital age has come with a deepening our brain’s neurological grooves that enables dualistic (e.g., right/wrong, good/bad) thinking. Our beliefs have become more extreme, and we have become more inflexible. Our brains have never been more susceptible to the deceptive messages from those seeking to monetize them. More than ever, we live with the illusion that we are separate, even polarized. We are in the Matrix and, like in the movie, we are living on a steady diet of blue pills.
Time to Wake Up
If ever there was a time to reduce your intake of media, it’s right now. If ever there was a time to be emotionally intelligent it’s right now. If ever there was a time for you to have a personal grounding/spiritual/consciousness practice, it’s right now. Now is the time to remember: Your fellow sapiens are not fundamentally that different from you. You do not actually despise certain people as much as you think you do. And you are not as righteous as you think you are.
I assume I’m brainwashed. I go to battle daily fighting resistance—resistance that pulls me away from seeing and hearing what’s real. Resistance can come from other people, information, and it can come from within in the form of apathy, rage, distraction, rationalization, avoidance, and denial, just to name a few.
Most of our cognitive experiences are projections. Our conditioned lens distorts what’s real. Most of what we ingest is not just fake news, it’s fake reality. As a result, we start believing our distorted thinking. We start believing that people are crazy. In fact, if you check, only a minority of people are crazy, stupid, demonic, radical, or even inflexible. But the majority of us are asleep and acting out of our vulnerability and past traumas, our amygdala (emotional brain) hijacked…we’re human.
Keep the Faith
I am grateful to be alive right now. I am grateful for the intensity of 2020 just as I am grateful for the 45th president of the US and the system that put him in office. His leadership has surfaced the shadow side of our culture. Now we can take a conscious look at what we stand for. COVID, the Big Pause that similarly forces us to examine our values and unhealthy dependencies, is a reminder of how dependent we are on each other.
In 2020 the Big Transition took a few painful, jarring discontinuous leaps forward. Now is the time to have faith that these are growing pains. History tells us that every living thing has a way of evolving as it transforms pain, darkness and conflict into the next level of consciousness. Don’t forget there is a lot of evidence that there exists an ever-present, deep, and benevolent wisdom behind the scenes helping humans evolve and become more conscious beings. It’s faith that leads to right action.
A Suggested Diet for Q4 2020
The world needs you to lead, to stay awake and to be ready for the new possibilities that will come in the not too distant future. To get some soul food in you, for the next 90 days…
- Unsubscribe from news feeds, blogs (except mine!) and notifications
- Listen to music and watch movies; avoid news and pundits, especially after 8:00 pm
- Get outside everyday if even for a few minutes
- Move your body every day: yoga, stretching, running, dancing
- Spend three minutes just being; breathe, think of three things you’re grateful for
- Be nice to people—I mean it, no rationalizing here. Take responsibility for your choices and be
nice, especially to those you don’t like or agree with!