A Return to Sacredness In Our Everyday Lives

[Trigger Warning:  This isn't a light, feel-good, funny post.  This post is designed to make you really stop and THINK about your current state of BEING.  If you're not presently up for that at the moment, maybe skip this one ... Who knows, you might come back and visit it again later?]

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I have been contemplating the source of ongoing uneasiness I feel for our world today, now so more than ever.  It finally occurred to me today, after months of ongoing contemplation on this topic, what might be at the root of the uneasiness I feel.  You see, it seems to me that in this day and age of relative abundance, where everything is just a click away for most of us, far too many of us have inadvertently lost sight of things that we once used to hold as sacred ... Our inherited sacredness handed down to us from those walked this earth before us.

Now, I'm not just talking about gratitude here, although honest gratitude absolutely helps to enrich our lives by refocusing our attention on appreciation for all that we are so blessed to have as opposed to the material focusing on that which we lack.  No, what I'm talking about here is a profound sense of unwavering reverence and respect for something BIGGER than ourselves that permeates every aspect of our being in our everyday lives.  Reverence and respect for our elders, for our shared traditions and customs, as well as the customs and traditions of others.  Reverence and respect for the hard-won freedoms so many of us seem to take for granted.  Viewing the Earth upon we walk upon with a sense of sacred awe and wonder, everything from her dancing grassy plains, to her intricately layered Jungles, raging rivers and towering mountains to the life-giving oceans that surround and the amazing abundance of creatures she sustains upon the land, the sea and in soaring brilliance of blue sky above .  Finding sacredness in our shared human bonds and in the notion that we're actually all in this together.  Finding sacredness in our God-given individuality and the notion that each of us is entitled the tenants afforded by a basic sense of human decency, which does not include diminishing the rights of another to think and believe differently from that which we ourselves might choose to believe.  Sacredness in the notion that we each have our own path to walk along this journey call LIFE, each with our own God-given talents and the right to free-will and self-determination, so long as our free-will does not intentionally harm another.

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At the conclusion of my contemplation on sacredness, I cannot help but believe that we as common people traveling upon this rapidly spinning beautiful Blue Planet, as it makes the journey around our sun, sorely need to find our way back to sacredness, in all of its many glorious forms, lest we diminish our opportunities for spiritual growth and evolution [which is actually the very reason for our existence here upon this physical earth] while affording ourselves the chance to work together to make this shared world of ours a better place by our individual choices and actions.  The time has finally come to awaken, to take individual responsibility for our choices, our individual thoughts, our words and  most of all our actions.  The time has come to awaken from the thoughtless slumber of complacency, to willfully step outside of the convenient dream of 'established truths' --be these established truths religious, political, cultural or soci-economic in nature-- in order that we might mindfully spring ourselves from the easy, feel-good traps of 'belonging' --under the guise of 'the greater good'-- as we endeavor to return to the core of the innate sacredness of self-determination and individual responsibility.  We must find the courage within ourselves to become more than mere sheep, so easily led and misguided any longer.  All the above being said, we have have to be brave enough to take the very first step toward self-determination.  It doesn't have to big a step, just one step at a time.  Each small step will illuminate the path to the next and before we know it, we are on our way.  So let the desire to return to sacredness permeate every fiber of your being, then and only then will everything else begin to fall into place.  And we have to be willing to cut ourselves some slack, for profound change seldom happens entirely overnight.  If we stray from the path, we must simply find our way back to the path and then we keep going.

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[Side Note: I also think most people never even begin such discussions with themselves because such spiritual notions seem to be beyond their reach.  This way of thinking is flawed, however, and really it's just an easy way out in my humble opinion ... "I'll never be a saint or a monk, so why even bother contemplating such nonsense." Then there are of course those people who attend church weekly, the religious ones --not that there is anything wrong with that-- but these types of people often figure they are in with the right crowd.  They attend services and that in and of itself checks their box where spirituality is concerned. Thus, they don't have any need to invest in additional individual spirit work.  Why indeed? How about because each of us makes a thousand different choices everyday and what if we purposefully chose to be more mindful in the choices we make, say even with 10% of our daily choices ... Starting with prioritizing the things that should really matter.  Sure we won't get it right all of the time, we'll fall back on old reflexes and bad habits, but the point I'm making is that just the act of trying makes a huge difference in the world at large ... Little ripples, ever-widening currents of hope and change expanding infinitely outward to ultimately make this world of ours better .. one thought, one action at a time.  It all adds up.  Just think about it, all the little ripples in the world interconnecting and ever-widening to produce prfound change ... WOW?!?]

So the question then becomes:  Are you brave enough?  To go it alone?  To step away from the safety of the crowd.  To stop and think not only about WHAT YOU BELIEVE --what you've been conditioned to believe-- but to consider the possible facts and reasons behind these conditioned beliefs and the entire ramifications thereof.  Can you consider that perhaps these conditioned beliefs only take into account a single perspective, one side of truth.  Perhaps you will be brave enough to let your individual voice be heard, while allowing others the courtesy of the same consideration?  I wonder, what will you choose to do today toward the end of finding your own way back to sacredness?  Maybe you'll choose to respond to perceived slights with compassion and forgiveness?  Or maybe you'll just start with patience and settle for not flying immediately off the handle?  Baby steps are perfectly okay.  Maybe you'll stop and genuinely listen to the perspective, thoughts and ideas of someone who has beliefs that run completely counter to your own? Maybe by the mere act of truly listening you'll actually learn something new and gain a new appreciation for walking a mile in the shoes of another?  Maybe you'll realize you don't actually KNOW everything and that there are often multiple sides to a given truth?  Maybe you'll realize that at the end of the day we have more in common with those we encounter in our daily lives than we had previously considered ... Now THAT would be truly earth-changing, wouldn't it???

Me, personally, I've come to a crossroads in my life.  I realize that in some ways I have been thinking small and always putting myself last, underestimating what I have to give back to the world at large.  I've made many sacrifices, willingly and for the greater good of others, but now the time has come for me to stop living so small.  I'm starting on a new path and in my own way, I am going to help to make this world a better place.  It's kind of scary to step boldly out onto a new path, into the Great Unknown, but it's also exciting at the same time.  My  new mantra is two-fold: "Hold on Loosely" (from the 38 Special song) and "I've got this!"  I realize there will be times when I will no doubt become frustrated, even angry or maybe even afraid, but I vow to be more mindful in the daily choices I make and to always strive to find my way back onto the path again.  In other words, fear of falling off the path isn't going to stop me from striving for more .. from striving to BE more.

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I've got BIG plans --pursing my advanced degrees-- but I'm starting small ... Starting with trying  to whole-hardheartedly strive to be more patient with the really, really terrible, rude and inconsiderate --not to mention downright dangerous at times-- drivers I encounter on the highways in my neck of the woods.  Driving up here is a constant source of stress and anxiety for me.  So that's my first baby-step.  Then secondly, I am going to find more time, energy and ways to explore the abundant peace and beauty to found all around in nature. Who knows, I may even find the courage to pick up my camera again --after a huge loss back in 2015 took the wind out of my sails for photography.  I'm also planning to find new ways to treasure time spent with family, making memories, carrying on old traditions and even making some new ones along the way as well. Lastly, I want to more fully explore and understand our shared history while not being inextricably bound by it --in terms of guilt, shame and retribution. For no experience, when a valuable lesson(s) can be learned from it is ever for naught --and being a survivor of sexual abuse, I know whereof I speak.  That being said, I know we must be wary of allowing our past history --individual, as well as collective-- to control and/or limit us and what we are capable of becoming in our present and future. Still a wise person once said that "those who do not fully know and understand their history are [sadly] destined to repeat it."  ... So here's to you, to us .. to finding our collective way back to more fully experiencing sacredness in our daily lives once again.