It is just over a month since the famous "apocalyptic" Dec. 21, 2012 date, which marked the "end" of the Mayan calendar and many astrological alignments. So what now? Did anything really change? Did I miss the news of the world ending?
Looking at this date through spiritual eyes, it was indeed a death... the death of an old pattern of negativity that's been playing out on Earth since our first incarnations on the planet. This death on the winter solstice led to a rebirth, as humanity as a collective has now become slightly more positive than negative. The mere focus of so many on that day ushered in a new energy of change, even if people didn't know what it was. The laser-like focus that day changed our experiential reality.
In honor of the circular Mayan calendar, whose rhythms go in cycles of unending time, unlike our linear Gregorian system, I'd like to preface the rest of the post from the perspective of quantum physics. Dec. 21 and even Cloud Atlas, however choppily edited, symbolize a new way of looking at time and possible futures.
Quantum physics teaches us that everything is now, and within that one moment there are infinite parallel realities happening simultaneously. So there is a reality, a timeline, where we did have the apocalyptic destruction of the world on Dec. 21. Whatever our imaginations can conceive is a possible reality to experience physically. So, how then did we miss California falling into the Pacific and that classic asteroid? Our consciousness shifted to a reality where that didn't happen.
Each person shifts to a different version of Earth by whatever his or her overriding beliefs are. For most, these beliefs are deeply rooted in the subconscious and unconscious minds. When someone says, "I didn't create that negative thing to happen," in a sense, that's true. Not consciously. But on a deeper level we did. In creating our preferred future, we must bring to light our individual day-to-day beliefs that are the driving force of our lives.
The human ability to perceive more than one thing at the same time is one of the wonderful results of this "global awakening." For many, it feels like time is "speeding up." The year 2013, referred to as the "year of transformation" or the "year out of time," is our opportunity to become aware of ourselves on all levels to consciously create whatever we desire from a holistic heart space.
For me, I initially celebrated and swooned over the momentous power of Dec. 21, 2012. I felt how special this day was for humanity and breathed a sigh of relief about humanity crossing this threshold of "positivity." I thought, "Yes, I'm in the clear and out of that old world paradigm. Now I can take a little break and relax from humanity's external wars and fighting."
Over the next two weeks, finishing 2012, I could feel the grief of leaving that old world behind, however murky it may have been, but there was something more to it than my sorrow. An internal battle was brewing post A-Day ("Awakening Day"). However dominant my spiritual hopefulness was, my practical investigator side kicked in. I could feel something hidden within me that was lying about this cosmic golden ticket to a perfect world... It can't be that easy. People are still flipping each other off and shooting each other. A flick of a switch can't make things instantly better overnight. I pondered.
I sat discussing this with my dad one evening in late December. We talked about how the collective was now 51 percent positive, but he said that doesn't mean every individual is. His statement struck a chord with me. It struck lightning through my bones. I'd been riding on the coattails of the collective, but going back to quantum physics, I am the micro that creates the macro. Whatever I am individually will be projected outward and create my physical experience.
In that moment, I realized that around Dec. 21, I had just hit the 51 percent positive mark within myself for the first time in my life. This shook me deeply, because I've always prided myself on being a very nice, positive, happy person, but that isn't what true positivity is. Authentic positivity isn't just being happy, it's fully operating from love in the majority of the aspects of your life.
For me, the Dec. 21 date marked a new level of personal responsibility. I realized I was a fraud. My subconscious and unconscious had come to light in this moment, showing me all the times when I thought that I was doing something for joy, when it was completely based on fear or anxiety. I give myself grace because I and probably 99 percent of the population don't know any better. We're just little programmed drones trying to make our way, sleepwalking all over the earth
The question is, how much are you still operating from fear? Anxiety? Ego? Do you have a smile painted on, with judgment piercing from within? What is motivating every little single thing you do? Is it to be loved or to get your creature comforts? In that moment of realization I started to look at the driving force of everything I say and each action I take in my life.
My new mission began to be to truly live from the heart like never before, no matter the "consequence." I knew the true consequence wasn't a lover speeding away because I spoke my truth or letting go of a client because the project wasn't my genuine passion but was only for the money. I knew the true consequence was to be operating according to someone else's agenda.
I knew that not being my true self and being fully received for my joyous expression is worse than any physical thing I could lose. Something shifted to a new level for me. I knew I needed to act, live and breathe even more from this real, truthful, authentic and unconditional place in my life. I began a journey of investigating myself and the types of people and situations I was creating around me to see what was "heart" vs. "not!"
Because of my recent endeavors, I've identified three ways of creating more authentic positivity in our lives.
1. Living Your True Joy
You deserve to live your joy simply because you exist. This 2013 upgrade isn't to "earn" something, it isn't through exhausting yourself or working your way to the top to feel like you're now worthy of something wonderful. The value of you being you is the new standard of currency. The first step to living your joy is to appreciate yourself, to know that you are worthy of experiencing and receiving goodness. Incorporating more of what you enjoy doing into your everyday life can start small, like taking that dance class you've wanted to take or spending more time in nature.
An important thing to look at when discovering your excitements is to honestly ask yourself if it is anxiety cloaked in excitement or if it's your soul's true joy. It seems that almost everything we do in our lives either stems from anxiety or is designed to numb the feeling of fear. We watch movies, eat, drink, speed, overwork, have sex for a moment of pleasure, and fill up our schedules to the breaking point, which leaves us no chance to breathe, listen, and actually be still enough to feel our hearts. There's nothing inherently wrong with any of these things. It's the reasons behind why we do them that is interesting. When we get to the source of our beliefs and motivations of why we do what we do, that awareness can assist us so we don't have to cover up our true inner torment. We can begin to choose lifestyles and experiences that enable us to be stress-free and authentically joyful.
2. Integrating Compartmentalization
Who do you want to be? Let's start walking the walk. I'm fascinated with myself and others when we have a strong stance on a subject, but we don't then incorporate it into every aspect of our lives. A relevant example that has been buzzing on everyone's lips lately is the topic of guns. I'm very encouraged that our culture is looking at this topic and seeing the pain guns cause. Our society is passionately against what guns create yet we make the latest action thriller a box office success and go home to play a gun game on Xbox.
The root of the gun challenge issue is the peace within us. Do we really want it? If we do, we must look at all the areas in which we're allowing that reality to perpetuate and take action congruent with what we prefer.
Once we're cohesive, holistic, and transparent about everything in our own lives, our world, government, and economy can change. The old concept that one person can't make a difference doesn't hold from the quantum physics perspective because what is created in the micro/individual reflects into the larger macro of physical experience.
3. Being Community
I saw The Impossible last night with Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts and was deeply moved. One of the things that always touches my heart is the generosity of humanity that flourishes in times of need. The human race does a beautiful job of coming together after disasters like Haiti, the tsunami shown in the film, and 2012's Hurricane Sandy. But why do we as humans have to be pushed to the edge of survival to come together?
Living holistically is knowing that what's good for the whole is also for my good. They're not separate. Everyone is a reflection of you. In the old days of tribal living they understood that each person's gifts were a critical piece of their puzzle to survive and thrive. Each person was valued for the skills and talents that assisted the whole community to flourish. Most of our present culture is individualistic, always thrusting toward more money and a greater achievement of power. We can see where that's left our dying planet and what it's done to our human hearts.
Again, all we need to do is simply be us... be our piece of the global tribe and treat everyone else like our brothers and sisters who have beautiful gifts for the whole. I've been practicing this concept, and it's amazing how this community concept can be incorporated into everything we do. I don't feel a need to speed past people anymore, because who's to say I need to be somewhere faster than the other person? Our existence is equally important. By putting it out there that other people's time, space and lives are valuable, it becomes so. This understanding raises the gratitude for ourselves and others. By tapping into this positive post-Dec. 21 momentum, magic and wonderful things can more easily come into our lives. Enjoy riding this wave of awakening.
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