Out of the ordinary

Nevertheless there is, underlying it all, beneath the surface of the ordinary, and in the commonplace of the everyday, a source of the extraordinary, the magical. It can be found through the practice of mindfulness, of being aware of the moment, even when doing household chores, such as the washing up. It may sound wacky, but I also discovered this in Thich Nhat Hanh’s book ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness.’ 

And we sometimes find ourselves surprised by coincidences, these may be moments of synchronicity which connect deep roots within us, perhaps a vein of thinking which, apparently out of the blue, also profoundly connects with someone else’s life, someone else’s thoughts. We are never apart from the world, we are always influenced by external events. Even seemingly distant world news pierces our psyche: cruelty; torture; the destruction of habitats; the extinction of species; climate change; everything that the so called ‘normal’ human race is responsible for.

If you're like me you'll care passionately about our home, planet earth. It grieves me that the everyday things I do damage the environment: consuming energy, contributing to waste From the moment I flush the loo, switch on the kettle, travel to work, buy my weekly shopping, my ecological footprint is stamped all over the earth. And there are millions like me, like you. Together we would need several more Earths for us all to sustain our current standard of living. For the whole world's population this could mean over four more Earths. We cannot continue consuming resources, and wasting so much as we do now. It is not sustainable.

But what we actually need to do is sometimes unclear. We are told many things and yet there is often conflicting evidence. One thing we can celebrate however, is our ingenuity, our ability to solve problems, to come up with better solutions in order to reduce impacts on health and the environment, ultimately in order to survive.

What does this have to do with mental health? Many of us, myself and my partner included, find ourselves paralysed with indecision in supermarkets for instance, trying to choose the most sustainable, low impact, carbon neutral, low food miles, healthy, free range, organic food. We become stressed, anxious. We are confounded by choice, by the amount of information available, which is still not quite enough to truly inform our decision. 

And for most of us, our lifestyles are having a direct effect on the wellbeing of the planet. Our planet home - suspended in the universe - mother earth. A planet which deep down we care for, and for which we may feel guilt and sadness at its apparent demise at the hand of our greed and carelessness. Our health and wellbeing often is tied to that of the planet. Even a simple walk through the woods on a Spring morning, bringing us into contact with nature, can be healing, restorative.

So why choose life?  Because when you think of it, the very fact that we exist at all, that we are alive, conscious, in this present moment of time and space in this world is nothing short of utterly amazing!

It is in our veins, and yet we have not said, not shared
enough of  who and what we are
how we came to be - to be conscious -
the origins of soul, of spirit, what it is that we strive for,
those of us lucky enough to dream.

Not enough of elemental roots, connections
which link us to the source of time, the dust of stars
from which we’ve come – not enough
of birth, of spirit made flesh, molecular
bonding, deoxyribonucleic acid*.

What is this to be inspired? To be moved by beauty, art,
theatre, dance, music, song, painting, sculpture,
the human voice, the human body, ecstasy, heights we aspire to…
What is this life, this Now?

‘… there are forces bigger than all of us, and they are the things that should make us humble. History. Time. Nature.’ Alastair Campbell, All in the Mind.

If we can hold on to the extraordinary in our lives, even in the face of death, it may help us to find a way through. And it means acknowledging and accepting our differences and all that is of lasting value to us.

In the meantime…Time to Change!

There are many subtle energies which influence our lives and our becoming and may be inspiration for the sensitive.

Steve

*DNA