Pivoting from Dark and Light

20 Dec Pivoting from Dark and Light

It’s that time of year again, when everybody’s out shopping, going to Christmas parties, and eating too much sugar. Season’s Greetings, everyone!

But my favorite holiday has always been the Winter Solstice—the pivot point when everything turns around.

As we pass through this darkest time of the year, it’s easy to comment about how very deep the darkness seems to be. American democracy is hanging by a thread. Republicans and Democrats are at each other’s throats. Climate change deniers serve the money god and hurl humanity ever faster toward catastrophe. Misinformation thrives; the gap between rich and poor widens, and divisiveness reigns. It’s easy to get discouraged.

As I lecture about climate change and social issues around the world, people always ask me how I manage to remain positive, despite knowing the dark and ugly facts?

Perhaps it’s my understanding of history and its cycles; perhaps it is simply that in my 67 years, I’ve seen how the dawn always follows the night, spring always follows winter, and empires continually rise and fall. The Buddhists remind us that the only constant is impermanence.

Political corruption has always existed. Not too long ago, in the Roman Empire, they used to simply run a sword through their opponents or poison them in their sleep, and it was perfectly acceptable. We have at least made some progress.

I’ve seen how creation and destruction are always happening simultaneously, and how at crucial points of evolution, they simply happen faster and faster. I’ve seen women go through hours of painful labor, to cry tears of joy as they hold their newborn. I’ve learned that in systems theory, it takes a crisis to shake up a system enough to evolve to a new form. Without that rupture, things keep going the way they always have, even if it’s completely dysfunctional.

It’s often said that if you’re going through hell, keep walking. Especially in the dark when you can’t see what’s ahead, it’s essential to set your internal sights on what you believe in, what you stand for, and the kind of future you want.

The future will come – that is inevitable. What kind of future depends on the actions we take today.

Use the darkness of this time to dream a new dream. Go inside and ask for guidance (7^th chakra) to bring you a vision (6^th chakra). Allow that vision to express itself through your words (5^th chakra), your relationships (4^th chakra), your actions (3^rd chakra), and your movements (2^nd chakra). Keep honing it down, condensing it, refining it, until you manifest it in the world (1^st chakra). This is the path we must take now, reaching up into our highest consciousness for the wisdom to create wisely, and learning how to bring our dreams all the way down into reality.

Remember, the light returns only a little each day. Know without a doubt that it does return and takes us round the wheel again and again. But it’s up to each of us to make the journey count for something worthwhile.

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