It is clear to many of us now that there is a tremendous shadow aspect of our society that is currently being unveiled.

It is natural for many people to be feeling sad after some of the things that have been happening lately. That does not mean we will stop loving nature, dancing and singing, holding each other close. But it is also time to recognize the “shadow,” see it for what it is and work firmly to shine light on it by being firm in our values and what we stand for. Overall, I feel all of this can have a positive effect if we stand together, examine our collective anger and depression and illuminate the path forward with right action.

The world is in danger. Our generation and future generations will suffer if we do nothing. I always advocate peaceful action, action rooted in love, in kindness, in respect. We need to come together and help each other, help each other grow, help each other clean up this mess that we are in. We need to remember what we really stand for, what we really came here to do on this Earth. We have forgotten who we really are and our true priorities. We have become distracted in useless pursuits and listening to hateful talk, while everything around us deteriorates.

It is not too late, it is in fact a good place to start, because the shadow aspect of our society and ourselves is in full view. We can no longer ignore the illness—and we are all part of this illness. The first step toward healing is to recognize where we are on this journey and acknowledge this, not so that we can be angry and seek revenge against those who see things differently, but so that we can truly heal it and transform it with the power of love.

This is going to require being honest with ourselves about the situation we are in. Without that honestly, anger will only serve as the ground for more resentments. Many people are angry, sad, and anxious—especially since the recent election, but this has been a process that has been unfolding for quite some time, and will continue to unfold for a long time to come. For this reason we need to take extra good care of ourselves, our families, our friends, and the world as a whole.

Yesterday I made sure to take time to rest and process my feelings, spend some time in nature to remind myself that there is much beauty that surrounds us. It is important to remind ourselves we are are still alive and breathing, that we still have the opportunity to make a difference in this world.

Clearly many people have become disgusted with the political process, not only in the United States, but I see the same sentiment being expressed all over the world. This has unleashed a tremendous amount of repressed anger against the “system,” with lots of negative expressions of that anger seeming to bubble to the surface. That anger is actually good in many ways because it lets us see more clearly into our shadow—both collective and personal.

What most of us want is positive change. We want to live a good life, with peace, with health and vitality, with respect, prosperity, and more equal distribution of resources. Of course there are different points-of-view on how to get to the end goal, but for the most part the majority of people just want to have a good life.

We have designed a political process that no longer serves us, and elected leaders that no longer serve us. This has been happening for a long time, however it is only recently that the collective is beginning to see and understand it. Changing the existing system—which is controlled by big money and corporations—is not easy. That is why we need to work firmly to create a new system, a new way of doing things, a new life. This will of course, require our highest intelligence, knowing that we need to get there gradually, while the current system is still in place.

We need a new generation of politicians who truly represent the wishes of the people. Bernie Sanders is a good example, but we need many more Bernies. The young generation, especially, needs to become active politically and create this change we want to see. I see it already happening with many young leaders who are standing up to protect the environment, the waters, the Earth.

This needs to be a global movement. What happens in the U.S. affects the rest of the world—what happens in the rest of the world affects us too. This global consciousness should be directed to this planet that is in danger due to the destructive actions of collective greed. The corporations don’t have power over us unless we give them that power.

Rise up peacefully to create a better Earth, a better future, a future where we can love and respect each other.

 

 

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Author: Carlos Puentes

Image: Travis May 

Editor: Travis May