Is it just me or does anyone else feel like 2020 has been made of moments that seem like a chaotic never ending marathon of polarization, fear, and grief; and at the same interspersed with exceptional experiences of mindful presence, fully aware of the true potential of life? The polarization of my personal experience has me desiring more of this calm, more stillness. Thank goodness Mother Earth provides by ushering in an early Autumn in Southern Ontario and a harvest moon which is taking place October 1 5:05PM EST. Harvest season begins a process of introspection for me and I am craving it. Given the events of this past year, these calm moments have opened up doors of possibility for me that I never thought I would harvest at this point in my life. In the words of author Charles Eisenstein, I feel that this autumn I am beginning to harvest the more beautiful world my heart knows is possible. I feel that this is possible for me now because I never gave up. Like all of us, I was met with many challenges this past year, but I never stopped planting and tending to my sacred garden and 2020 has turned out to be one of my most fruitful harvest moons in recent years.
In those peak moments of calm stillness I have experienced this past year, I feel as if there is no polarization, no fear, no randomized chaos… just balance and oneness, a divine connection between myself, nature, and all living beings on this planet. In these moments everything just is as it is meant to be and it feels right. Feeling the “is’ness” in this way empowers me to continue on my path and harvest the seeds of hope I have planted throughout my life. Especially as it becomes apparent that many people have had their life violently uprooted in the past year, I am continually humbled and in a state of gratitude for my blessings. I can relate to those who have experienced aspects of their world shattered over the last year as I to have been there too. I think my saving grace was that even in the depths of my despair, a tiny spark of hope remained planted deep in my soul. If you are reading this and follow the Rewild My Bio Podcast you have probably also planted seeds of hope for this very time and so maybe you can relate. If you feel something lies deep in your soul that needs tending to for the first time ever then I encourage you to read on.
I reckon it is time for me and those of you who have a similar feeling to harvest what we have planted, to lead the way to a more eco-centric (and less ego-centric) existence for humanity. One where community connection, joy, purpose, peace, and LOVE is at the foundation of Self and society rather than the ego-centric status quo, and the oppression, illness and disease that is systemic in Western culture. (For more on all caps definition of LOVE see Ep. #7 What is LOVE?) It is time to harvest our wildest dreams and turn the etheric into the physical. Take the chance and do the thing that you were meant to do on Earth that brings balance and harmony to your life and adds that frequency to the collective consciousness. Others need you to shine your light. If you have hope that a more beautiful world is possible, then now is the time to take action to physically manifest what has been until now lying dormant in the seed bed of our hearts and souls. We need bold people who are able to not only dream about a more beautiful world – we need to lead it into being with our daily words and actions – embody the spiritual to save the physical world from leadership that has fallen from grace.
We need a new brand of leadership, not more of the same. To say we lack leadership in the Autumn of 2020 is an understatement. (I am speaking towards mainly political leadership, but I could argue poor leadership is an epidemic in every facet of modern life). Leaders can’t be leaders if they are fearful of their followers. Our leaders of today are writing the last chapter of their book by spending more time trying to keep their power then they do having open and honest conversations with the people they are supposed to be leading. These leaders are missing out on the opportunity to learn from the people and enhance their ability to make informed decisions and ultimately be an effective leader. I believe poor leadership and having an abundance of false prophets stems from being disconnected from the true nature of the people who give them power and worship them. Thanks in part to the impact of Western imperialist foreign policy and free market competition with China since the end of the Cold War, many world leaders see their constituents and all of humanity as soulless and separate from nature and the living Earth. Or so this nature based philosopher believes. And so I also believe that to reconnect to the circle of life and cycles of nature we need to reconnect with aspects of our wild soul and do what we were put here to do in the name of LOVE for self, tribe, humanity, mother the Earth and all living beings.
Our current leaders are not Leaders because they do not follow the people. Furthermore a leader cannot be a Leader if they tell half truths so to win popularity amongst a sub set of the population. I don’t think I need to tell you this but this is exactly what is going on with the use of social media advertisements during elections of recent past and present. How can we know what is true anymore if we continue to look outside of ourself for the answers – answers that are so easily manipulated by AI. This social media tactic and others are misleading and dark magic in my opinion. However, it is exactly the game plan of any political leader running for office today. If this polarization we are experiencing today continues on in both spirit and physical forms, over the next couple years we will experience a challenging (and perhaps painful) deconstruction of the myth of separation. With this will come the collapse of the physical counterparts of such myths, like the institutions that house and give power to the leadership of today. A good leader (or at least a leader that would be better than the governments in power today have to offer) is a student of the people and has the ability to track and observe the nature of things to ensure the direction we are heading is based on the collective need and one that includes living in harmony with Mother Earth. Like a hunter would track a deer in the forest, we too need to be observant of the signs we receive from our experiences in our day to day life. I should stress that I mean the information in front of us physically – not the information we receive that is filtered through a screen. And that includes this blog. Take what you learn from screens out into the world but let it not cloud your vision of what is in front of you. I stress this because based on my observation from information we get from screens (like the picture below depicts) our leaders appear to be malevolent shepherds, no longer part of the herd. My observations have also lead me to believe it is because we the people have been sheep for so long that we don’t even realize the shepherd is making a deal with fox and he is letting the fox guard the hen house. (No pun intended and my apologies to Foxes for having to share their name with a mainstream news outlet.)
I’ll segue for a minute as this seems like a good time to ask; How many people do you know that have become ill and died this past year? What was the cause of that death? I personally know more people who have died from suicide and become ill due to loneliness and broken hearts than I do a virus allegedly from soup containing a wild bat. This is what makes up my reality because it is what I experience – not what I am programmed to believe by the fox on the screen.
So where is the silver lining, the happy ending? Far far away, perhaps. But I feel it will be closer if we take action and be the mighty oak tree we are meant to be. We change the world by achieving the calm quiet state within ourselves and follow the voice that then guides us to the light. This is one piece of the puzzle. The other is to work at squashing the voice that leaves us feeling like a small acorn on the forest floor suppressed by darkness. Seek the light in you, learn from, thank, and then squash the voice that keeps you in darkness, the world depends on it. We are all microcosms of the macrocosm and what we change in ourself has a powerful ripple effect. We change the world with every dollar we spend, every seed we plant, every piece of trash we pick up and put into the recycle. Do the thing you are meant to do, big or small, they are all powerful right now. How can you do the most good and bring the most joy to you and yours? This is what will change the world – do that. A forest can always grow back after suppression from fire, tornado, or a fierce and relentless winter; so to can a more beautiful world grow back in the place of the current broken system. We have to remember it is the light that hits the forest floor after the fire that brings new growth and life. The fire is not bad, it is a necessary part of the circle of life. Let us honour that cycle and give thanks to it this year.
We need to hear the call of the Earth, hear the voice that is calling us to walk our purpose and take action so we can manifest a better world. A world that is better not just for the next generation, but for seven generations from now. This harvest moon calls us into action. Harvest all you need to give you the strength and energy to do the things you envision in your wildest dreams, do the things you download during a walk in the forest, do the things you put on the page of our journal as you sit at the base of a tree, do the things that land in your body after a meditation in an urban green space. Do the things that allow you to harvest what God, LOVE, Creator, Highest Self, or Ecological Self, call you to do. Whatever you call that voice that guides you to the light, listen and do what it says the best you can. If you have a hard time hearing the voice, first remember that we have to stop and listen in order to hear things. Stop and get quiet first (perhaps in nature if possible) then listen with all of your being, and then trust what you get and be grateful for it. If this concept is new to you than treat it as a practice and keep at it. Small steps can have big rewards in this day in age.
A harvest moon calls us to be in a state of gratitude and acknowledging our blessings both silently to our self and verbally with others. This makes balancing time we spend with ourself and time we spend with others an important area of life to set some boundaries to ensure personal growth, as we cannot grow without having a season to let old energies die out. This is important for healthy relationships. Like the season, let what is old die off, so we can make space for the quiet time of Winter. Tis the season for observing and tracking the signs of the past year so we no where to go next. I am not talking about signs on a screen either. Get quiet and figure out what is old and needs to die off so we can make space in our garden for the more beautiful world we know is possible.
I know I am grateful and blessed to be here writing this for you today. Just writing this regardless of outcome brings me much joy and brings me purpose. I am grateful for never losing faith in my purpose and listening to the voice that told me to start a podcast. Even in the early days when I cursed having to sit on computer and edit an MP3 file and posting it to an RSS feed. Heck even when I was in the depths of my deepest despair, I still tended to my sacred garden both spiritually and physically. Spiritually through meditation and prayer, and physically through getting my hands dirty in soil, and studying many great teachers. These practices and people are what have helped me reconnect with my purpose and it is time for us who have this connection to come together and lead those through the dark times. I believe it is important for us who want to take ownership of a more beautiful world to make space and shine a light for the world to come together virtually and physically in the months and years to come. I am so grateful to share the practices and people that have inspired me in finding my purpose with you via the podcast and this blog.
Again this is why I am grateful to be harvesting some amazing things this year: a podcast that allows me to reconnect with far away members of the “pro-life tribe”, land that I steward and cares for my well being as I care for hers, and relationships and community that resists the urge to acquiesce to a form of leadership that is at the end of it’s life cycle. It is now time for us to honour this old way of life and the leaders who served us during it. It is not necessary to condemn these times in their final hours but rather be grateful for them and count the blessings humanity has acquired from the industrial and technological revolution of the past few hundred years. Without these events and technologies we couldn’t be connecting with you via my podcast and this blog. I feel it is time to celebrate the life and death of the era of separation. Perhaps holding ceremony to honour this great transition is in order, for it is largely due to the degree of humanities separation from nature and the morally unchecked rise of technology, that we are faced with relentless fear and uncertainty from the narratives of our leaders. The good news is that the stories and myths that others us from one another, the trees, the bees, the rocks, and the streams is over.
What are you grateful for? Do you see hardships as a blessing? Do you see the current political debates and disconnected leaders as an opportunity to grow towards the light and not live in fear of the dark? Do you feel like you are stepping into your unique leadership role in your tribe and want to connect with others? If so I would love to hear from you. If this blog entry resonated with you then please check out the work that inspired it. A Gathering of the Tribe written by Charles Eisenstein in 2009 was shared with me recently from a mentor. Please share this blog entry or Charles’s very well written article with a friend if you feel called to do so.
Thanks so much for reading this. If you want more bonus content from the show please sign up for the newsletter and don’t forget to download and subscribe to the podcast on the platforms of your choice.
Stay Wild,
Shawn