being human,  breath,  embodied liturgies,  embodiment,  musings

We Have Forgotten

We have forgotten how to be human. We have forgotten what it means to be human. We have forgotten ourselves and what it feels like to be human. We have forgotten each other and the natural world.

Now that I’m about a year into my nervous system regulating journey, and many years in spiritual devotion, life — real life — is coming back online. (And to be honest, I think the only time it was ever online for me prior to this was when I was a baby, when I was pre-verbal. I suspect this to be the case with most of us, unless our parents were fully realized while raising us.) I keep having revelations about life, and what I see is that nothing is real in the state of the world these days. Capitalism, the patriarchy and Western civilization, in general, have cast a cloud over deep seeing. We live in concrete jungles … the streets, the sidewalks, the buildings, the high-rises. We live in man-made time, slaves to our schedules, our lives. We’ve been turned in machines, and our only marks of progress are paychecks, advancement, things, trips, more things, wealth. Personally, I don’t see an end in sight. ‘The American Dream’ is ingrained in our collective psyche, our very beingness. It’s become our ultimate aim in this life.

Let me back up. First world living is a luxury many do not have. My life is quite different from others in remote third world countries, where survival is the name of the game. I am grateful. But at the same time, I’m breaking through veils of what it actually means to be human. I’m recognizing the need to slow down, be present, reject various cultural ‘norms’ and to live into the ways God intends me to be. There is so much simple joy in just living but most of us can’t find it — me included! My work is to get back there, and it is work. But it’s the greatest work of my life, ranking right up there with motherhood.

Quite honestly, I’m not certain we’ll ever collectively get to paradise in this lifetime. The balance is no longer a balance, and unless more of us wake up, I’m terrified for what this world will become. Are we destined for and am I proclaiming gloom and doom? Sadly, perhaps. But it’s not my job to get sucked into that misery. No, my job is to live into the goodness that life offers and to do my part to bring about a new consciousness. THAT is what it means to be human … seeing our inherent dignity, seeing the inherent dignity in the other and doing our part, living into our soul callings. Day by day I add new practices, ways of being, and begin to live into the bright shining light that is my soul.

Get closer to the earth, dear friends. She is our medicine.

(Photo by Fuu J on Unsplash)