The Mishandling of Humanity
Originally posted on October 14, 2020
I listen to things when I drive: mostly conversations, ideas, discussions on consciousness, universal law, loving yourself through all of it, and what is happening to humanity. That stuff.
Yesterday, I drove a lot. Not surprisingly, each of the discussions I listened to created a bigger, incredibly profound conversation that I have been mentally chewing on ever since.
The first was about the bees. These industrious, productive agents of harmony buzzing around, sustaining food and life for our planet, have a massive role. Bees are remarkably important.
But the bees don't know that.
There is no way for each individual bee to understand the enormous impact it has on the big picture. Each bee just goes about its business saving the world, flower by flower.
The difference between us and the bees is that we have consciousness, which allows us to understand, analyze, and choose our impact, and the bees do not.
While this super intelligent thought leader was sharing his discourse on the bees and consciousness, I had to ask myself: Do we really--actually--understand our impact in the world? Do most of us really understand how important our contribution is?
I feel like our consciousness is often held captive by our harmfully programmed ego that makes us believe that we, as individuals, do not have much of an impact, that our existence does not leave much of an impression. We have a real tendency to focus on our perceived insignificance.
I think we are more like the bees than we know. Each of us contributes to the sustainability of the big picture, the expanding (or contracting) awareness of the collective community. Each human life is significant and crucial to the big picture impact. And like the bee buzzing through my backyard this morning that doesn't know its inherent value, we are buzzing through our own lives unaware of ours.
Each of us is like a bee, consumed by our industry, unaware of the importance of our existence.
______
The second was about the trees. Imagine being a tree in spring and summer.
Wouldn't we feel glorious about ourselves? We are at the peak of our growth, bearing fruit, and providing shade. There is great pride in being such a beautiful tree, so useful, so grand. Our accomplishments are many, and we are proud.
But then comes the fall. Our decorations vanish. Our fruit is gone. There are no more flowers to celebrate. For half of the year, we wonder what there is for us to be excited for, what do we have to show for ourselves. We question our value because we have no accomplishments to share. Self-judgement and despair, perhaps even self-loathing, dominate our experience of ourselves. We feel useless and impose unworthiness upon ourselves.
But then spring comes, and we grow and proliferate once again.
And we are like that, aren't we? We get down on ourselves when we aren't in a productive season, when we feel things are not going the way they "should" go. We get down on ourselves when we are not feeling beautiful or useful.
Looking at the tree from the outside, we know that this is how life is supposed to be. There are forces acting upon us that we have no control over: cycles, seasons. And all of it is exactly how it is supposed to be.
Don't we want to tell the tree that everything is perfect? Shouldn't we realize that is true for us, too? If we do, we can appreciate the perfection in those moments of despair just as we appreciate the perfection in the fruits of summer.
As it is in nature, it also is in us.
______
The third conversation showed up in each talk I listened to: sustainability of our human existence.
We are part of a system. Many, actually. There are many parts working together to create our environment, our cycles, our existence.
The downfall humans are bringing upon ourselves is how we have always tried to separate ourselves: us versus the environment; us versus other countries or populations; us versus our neighbour.
We have taken from the natural environment without regard for the disruption we have caused all other systems and balance residing there.
We continue to commit genocides and violent acts of racism, treating other groups and populations without equality, without mutual respect, as though we are not all ONE.
We threaten, judge, and criticize our neighbours and individuals for having different perspective, thoughts, backgrounds, values, and priorities, not realizing that those judgements are hurting us, too.
When our goal becomes symbiosis and harmony, only then will we reverse the destruction and human extinction we are calling upon ourselves.
We really are all ONE. And EVERY life really is important.
The affect we create in our world around us really does affect us in likeness.
And like the hard-working honey bee or the bare, autumn birch, we cannot know all the forces that we are influencing or that are acting upon us.
But because we have consciousness, we can accept they are there and trust in that powerful ONENESS (the only thing that can save us from ourselves). We can look harder to find the harmony, the win-win, the symbiosis in every situation. Our contribution really is that significant.
With great love and connectedness,
Leanne
Connect with me:
FB: @CometoTheTable
Reply to this message. I would love to hear from you.
IMPORTANT CREDITS!!
The conversation about the bees came from Daniel Schmachtenberger’s talk at Emergence. (Thanks to my dear friend Kimberly Wallace for sending me this gem!)
The conversation about the trees comes from Matt Kahn's talk called The Two Sides of Experience.
The conversation about the potentiality of human extinction and what needs to happen to reverse that pathway was initiated by Mandy and John Trapp in their recent Facebook video: Are humans going to be extinct in the next few decades?
Enjoy the conversation!