There is madness in our humanity, a destructive impulse born of our fear, greed, ignorance and will to power. And there is great beauty in us as well, sourced from our best instincts of love, generosity, goodness and nurturance of life. We are astoundingly stupid and equally astoundingly brilliant, astoundingly horrific and astoundingly magnificent.
In the cacophony of these polarized, opposing energies, the tension is building around us, shaking up our lives and world. I hear this tension in the news, on social media and in my conversations with others. The extremes of our humanity are visible for all to see, playing out on the world stage and in our personal lives. Fear, greed, dominion, stupidity, love, generosity, goodness, brilliance, all bumping and bashing up against each other, building and building toward a momentous turning.
Change is already here, driving us hard and fast, and it is a tumultuous, bumpy ride. But what the turning point will look like and what will come after are yet to be determined. It can be a dam bursting, wreaking destruction and havoc in its wake; or a building tension that leads to a glorious, orgasmic release into something new and wondrous; or some alchemical mix of the two.
These are the things that come to me in my waking and sleeping, in my everyday life, writing and magical workings in community. And whenever I ask for guidance and direction from the Goddess or other Mysteries, the answer is always the same: life is good, and you and your human kin are made of this goodness.
Life is good. This is true now and has always been true. These three simple words, when made the center of our worldview, can change everything.
Before we go any further, I want to point out that I am no Pollyanna. Life can be, and is for so many people, very bad. We humans do great harm to each other and our planet home. The world is a mess; our social structures are crumbling; our personal stories are burdened with pain and sorrow; and we hover on the brink of environmental devastation.
All of these things arise from the negative, destructive, “bad” side of our human nature. And this “bad” side, with its fear, greed and domination impulses has held sway over our collective humanity for millennia. Yet there has always been great goodness, beauty and brilliance in humankind as well. We are neither all bad nor all good, but some complex weaving of these polarities in our nature.
The great turning point of these times offers the crucial opportunity to face up to the truth of our human nature and actions — to know that we are capable of great goodness and great destruction — and to consciously choose which side of this existential divide will hold sway in our life. We must choose whether to live by the belief that life is good, and humankind, as a part of life, is also good. Or to let the bad dream of humanity, with its devastating, disregard for life and grounding in the worst instincts of our species, continue on its current trajectory and the catastrophic ending it is driving us toward.
To consciously choose to believe in and live by the simple words: life is good, is a radical. evolutionary act. You step out of the oppressive, bad dream of our collective humanity, and reclaim the place inside of you that is made of love, generosity and goodness — that gazes out at the wild realm, awestruck by its wonders and committed to its preservation — that looks across the table at others and sees beauty in the making, and prays for goodness and abundance for us all — and that vows to live from this inner place of goodness, no matter what life brings your way.
What you believe in begets your choices and actions, which in turn influence our human society and the greater world. When you believe that life is good, you give yourself to a life of goodness and help bring greater goodness into the world. For every challenge and bad news story that you face, you can hold a vision that there is a better, life-centered way for your life, our human society and our Earth home.
We are not chained to the bad deeds of our past. We can mend the harm we have done to each other and the planet. We can share our goodness, gifts and best qualities, and honor these things in others. We can cherish and protect this good Earth. We can embrace this turning point with courage, determination and a belief that a good life for all is possible. We just have to choose it, live accordingly, and do the hard, transformative work of making it so.
We cannot do this work alone. We need a mass awakening to collectively turn our faces back to the goodness that is life, and to source from this well-spring to heal our personal lives and bring positive change to the world. And we must do this now, as best we can, before it is too late.
As daunting and impossible as this may seem, life’s goodness is already true and all around us, calling us back to its loving, wondrous embrace. Step out into the silver moonlight. Catch raindrops on your tongue. Bite into a crisp, sweet apple. Treat yourself to a bouquet of your favorite flowers. Dance yourself dizzy. Breathe in your beloved’s scent when you embrace. Make art with a five year old. Smile at every stranger you pass, and take in their smile in return.
Life is so, so good.
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The Path of She is published on alternate Saturdays; follow it via RSS or e-mail! If you like Karen’s work, like her page on Facebook or maybe buy her book, Tale of the Lost Daughter, a fictional spiritual adventure into the life-changing world of magic and the sacred feminine.
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