The Story of the New Humanity: Part One
OK, humanity. Time to circle up and have our selves a little pep talk. This might take awhile, so pull up a chair, take out your notebooks and pens and turn to a clean sheet of paper. We'll be discussing this topic for a few more sessions, so get comfortable. But not too comfortable, because we have work to do.
Let's start with acknowledging that it looks really dark and discouraging out there right now, and we probably need to admit that at times, we're tempted to crawl back under the covers, do a Rip Van Winkle and take a nap for about a million years. Maybe, a million years from now, human beings will have finally gotten their act together. Wouldn't that be something? Right! Wake us when we get there.
Well, wake up. We're there! Yes, I know it doesn't look or feel much like it. But consider this: We're millions of years down the road from when we first stood upright and walked out of Africa. And if Cro-Magnon Man were walking around in our midst right now, even with all that's completely messed up about us, our ape ancestors would be "gobsmacked" by how far we've come. We may have a long way to go, but baby, from a Neanderthal perspective, we've already come a long, long way.
So what, you say? Who cares? That was then. This is now. What has humanity done for me lately? And you'd be right. This is not a time for self-congratulation, because although we have come a long way, we do still have a long way to go.
But don't tune out, because the story of humanity is about to take a turn. Human beings are nothing if not master storytellers. This ability is what distinguishes from our ape ancestors. Isn't it about time we told a new story about who we are and where we're going? Isn't it about time we evolved this old story of divide and separate and align ourselves with a story that reflects a greater awareness of our true selves?
I believe that is exactly what we're doing. We are transforming our old story, and humanity is about to make a leap. And it really is going to get better. But it isn't going to feel like it for a long time because in the leaping process, which we're already in, things fall apart, which they're already doing. And when things are falling apart, which they already are, it gets pretty ugly. Which it already has. And when it gets ugly, people get testy, because everything looks and feels really bad. Which it already does. That's where we currently are in our story. Lucky us!
Here's a little pop quiz: If it took us millions of years to get to where we are now, which we've established is the bad and ugly part, how many more millions of years will it take to get us to the good part? And can we even get there from here? And can we get there sooner, rather than later? OK, that was more like a major essay exam than a pop quiz.
But now we're getting to the hard part. And this is the hard part not because it's inherently hard but because it's going to require us to make the leap just to let this sink in. You ready? Here it comes... the hard part.
We're already there. See? I told you, you might not get it right away. So I'll say that again -- we're already there. The hard part is, we don't know it yet. Not in consciousness. Not enough of us know it yet because not enough of us are awake.
Not enough of us are awake yet, but we're making progress, even as we're living in the end time of the old paradigm and watching everything around us crumble. Though we know the old game must die before a new game can be created and that death is a necessary part of the transformation process, it's still scary to be the ones left hanging in mid-air looking for the next branch to grab on to. See? Our ape ancestors knew a few things we've forgotten but might do well to recall about now.
Or as Marilyn Ferguson, author of the Aquarian Conspiracy, put it, "We're like Linus, when his blanket is in the dryer." Only in our case, those mysterious dryer thieves who disappear things right out from under our noses have eaten our old blanket, and we're left with the task of weaving a new one while being in freefall!
But fear not, humanity. We are up to the task. Look, if we could make it from the cave to the moon, surely we can figure out how to weave our next, vastly-improved blanket. Or maybe it won't be a blanket at all. Maybe it'll be more like a high-tech spider web that is both strong and flexible, with plenty of space for inclusion and growth. Or as Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, put it: "Leap and the net will appear." It's time for more of us to leap.
So this is our job now. That is to wake up and stay awake. And invite others to do the same. And keep on waking each other up until there are enough awake people on the planet to shift the "asleep" game to the "awake" game. Ah, the "awake" game! You might think that's going to be like living in Disneyland, but that game will have its challenges too. More on that game in later posts, so stay tuned.
We transform the game when we decide to stop playing it, and a critical mass of us are still playing the old game, enough to resist the forces of change. But that too, is changing. The old game of division and separation is being quietly transformed by the increasingly rapid development of technology that allows us to be connected to one another instantly and at all times.
Our old story is being transformed. Distance no longer dictates destiny. Yet our technology also has the power to be a force of evil as well as good, and who we become as the new humanity will have much to do with how we choose to deploy our technology. We are still in the Neanderthal age when it comes to what is possible and what is yet to be in this domain. We shall see amazing things yet to be in our lifetimes. Stay tuned, more to discuss about this.
So the question is: Who will we become in the new humanity? This is where you and I come in. Because you and I are the ones who are here now, while things are falling apart and before they've come back together in a way that elevates us to a whole new level. There's nobody here but us chickens, so it's up to us to do the heavy lifting. If humanity is going to be lifted up, we're the ones who signed on for that job.
Oh, you thought you were here to hang out at Disneyland? No problem. You can hang out if you want, but while you're hanging, wake up some people. You know, like the ones standing in line waiting to get an ice cream before they take the ride on Space Mountain. You'll find them everywhere. Disneyland is as good a place as any to begin. Or begin wherever you are.
It might be tempting to characterize my words as some new age mumbo jumbo that has nothing to do with the "real" world. But the truth is, we really are the light. All of us. We're made of "star stuff." Scientists Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, and Neil de Grasse Tyson confirm it. The rest of us have just forgotten. Waking is remembering this. That's it.
Below is one of my favorite videos of all time. I've shared it here before, but do have another look. It's part of the curriculum, and you'll be tested on it later. You might have to watch a :22 second advertisement at the beginning, but hang in. YouTube finally found a way to make money.
It's tricky business to accomplish a shift in consciousness at any level. Even though an entirely new and expanded way of viewing reality is only a synapse away, it turns out that the distance we've been traveling in consciousness for as long as humanity has existed is the distance from one synapse of our brain to the next.
It's tempting to conclude that we're farther away from leaping than ever, that humanity is losing ground and our story is getting worse instead of better. At the level of appearances, it looks like we might bomb ourselves back to our Neanderthal days.
But here's where the story takes a turn, for there's a larger story at work here, one that is not so obvious to the casual observer. For while the story that looks like humanity's demise is playing out in front of the curtain, behind the curtain is the story of humanity's soul journey and that story, I believe, is the root of what we're living out today and where we're going tomorrow.
We are unfolding the story of the new humanity right here and right now. Need it take millions of more years to unfold? Or have we come far enough to see the possibility of the leap being only a synapse away?
Stay tuned for Session Two: The Soul Journey of Humanity.
Meanwhile, I'd love to hear how this lands out there with you. I hope I'm not out here all by myself, although at times, it feels like I am. I suspect it might feel that way for you at times too. That's why it's important that we check in with each other and offer support where we can. What's your story about waking up right now? What's your story about staying asleep?
Do leave a comment here or on my personal site a Rx For the Soul. Become A Fan and be notified when new posts appear. For personal contact, reach me at judith@judithrich.com.
Blessings on the path.
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