Wind is air that is engaged in turbulent movement, and as such, is an apt symbol for the energy of change.
In 2008 and 2012 a majority of those in the US voted for a President who promised change even though many are disappointed that not enough has come about. But change is indeed in the air. The energy of change is permeating the planet, because it is energy that must first change before physical reality can follow.
The problem is that the energy of change is not comfortable. How many of us are feeling sad, uncertain, unsettled, distracted, anxious, fearful, confused and like the other shoe is going to drop? Some of us have real reasons for these feelings, especially if we have been affected by the floods, tornadoes, blizzards, endless winter and other unusual weather around the world. Many of us are also experiencing personal crises in the form of health and emotional issues. But even those not directly affected may be feeling strong emotions for no apparent reason.
The winds of change first of all bring sadness, for even changes that are positive often need grieving. We are still leaving behind something, and even if it is something we want to leave behind, we often need a time of mourning. This is a natural releasing process, and an important step that must be undertaken before moving on.
One of the changes coming about is that we are now more connected to one another than ever before. We are now connected technologically to the rest of the world, but we are also connected energetically to all people everywhere who have suffered losses, and/or, are in crises. Although we may not know them personally and they may be far away, we still feel their pain.
The winds of change also bring uncertainty, anxiety and a feeling of being unsettled, and even outright fearfulness. This is because the energy of change is breaking down boundaries, loosening limitations and creating new potentials. While this may sound good theoretically, boundaries and limitations are what give us our ability to move about comfortably in our environment. When they disappear we feel exposed and vulnerable. When rules and definitions fall away with no new ones yet in place, we loose our sense of being able to know and control the world around us in familiar ways. Things that have worked before no longer work, and labels that made sense before, no longer ring true.
For example, we label our current political positions as conservative and progressive. Conservatives are usually those that want to maintain the status quo, while progressives are those that want to take the risks involved in changing things. Yet today, it is conservatives who want to change things that have existed for decades in the US, like Medicare, Social Security and unions, while progressives fight to keep them. In addition, we have a supposedly progressive President who seems to be adopting many of the policies of his exceedingly conservative predecessor. And probably the most conservative member of the Senate recently filibustered drone strikes.
What gives here? Things are no longer what they were.
So we are also confused. We are even more confused because other than political matters in Washington DC and strange weather patterns, we may not be experiencing any overt changes in our immediate physical environment that would account for the intensity of our feelings. Energy is invisible, but we feel it nonetheless. We wanted change and we are getting it.
Here are some hopeful examples.
Young girls (ages 10-18) in cultures where child marriage is practiced, are rising up in opposition. They are joining together both locally and globally (by cell phone) to support one another and appeal to the clan chiefs and elders in their community. They are designating “wedding free zones” and offering shelter to girls who had no place to turn before.
The President of the United States on his recent trip to Israel addressed a group of college students and spoke for the rights of Palestinians. He spoke against settlements and for an independent Palestine as well as laid responsibility for peace on the shoulders of the younger generation. Not only did he receive many rounds of applause for saying these things, but also a number of standing ovations.
Here in the US we are seeing groundswells of popular support for fairness, transparency and public responsibility. In Colorado, for example (once a bastion of conservatism), 74% of voters endorsed a ballot measure for a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United (a court ruling allowing unregulated corporate campaign donations). Colorado is also seeing overwhelming bipartisan grassroots opposition to fracking, even though it is a state known for its oil and gas industry.
Change is happening. Force, coercion, manipulation, deceit, bigotry, inequality, and disempowerment are on their way out because they are not compatible with a worldview that includes an energy dimension.
But real change often doesn’t happen the way we expect it to. It is messy and chaotic and involves a lot of releasing. (Could it be that this is what the weird weather patterns are all about?) Chaos feels bad, but it is always a precursor to creation. The disintegration of the old releases energy for new creations, and the churning, turbulent nature of chaos shakes things up to the point where the new can enter.
Real change also involves opening ourselves to the new, to seeing new possibilities in the opponent’s point of view, to finding new potentials that no one has thought of before, and to looking for solutions in places we wouldn’t usually look. It means doing away with preconceived ideas, unconscious assumptions and the ego’s need to be “right” all the time. In other words, as uncomfortable as it may feel, the winds of change hold great potential for growth in all of us, as well as for the evolution of the world in general. Although the birthing process can be painful, putting aside our fear, relaxing and trusting the process can help. Deep breathing assists physical birth, and helps energetic birth as well. Breathe in the new energy, and breathe out the old.
And remember, fear and excitement are but opposites ends of the same spectrum.
*Full disclosure – This blog is a revised edition of one that was published in May, 2011. But it is even more appropriate today.
For more on energy and the energy realm, see my book, “It’s All About Energy: Adventures in Expanded Reality”, available on Amazon, in local bookstores and on my website, www.transformationalexpansion.com