So, anyway! Where was I? Oh yes, the present moment!

Look how far we have strayed from it and what we have created. We are in a state of perpetual reaction. Can hardly make a considered judgement to save our lives (as the saying goes…and literally). Take food for example. We were all talking about the population being poisoned by their own hand, unable to get food that was not sprayed repeatedly with pesticides. Then people stepped back and called it a success if the food wasn’t GMO (ie. plants bred to tolerate massive amounts of pesticide and then sprayed as often as wanted) Then a few people wanted a change from factory farming but any attempt to raise awareness of what happens when you intensify animal agriculture has been stifled under the ag gag laws (you can go to prison for even taking a photo of a farm from outside the perimeter fence). 

 

And now? Now we’re in danger for just existing. Nevermind the grub we can get hold of. As my friend in Minneapolis said to me the other day, ‘We’re really trying but when I cut open the apples for the kids, the red dye is just pouring out of them."

Non Organic and Organic Apple

 This is something I had not even heard of. I knew things were picked before they were ripe and artificially ripened and waxed so they never go off but really, nowadays, you just can’t sweat the small stuff. If you have the wrong face or are in the wrong place and the wrong time, you are in trouble.

However, we only need to do two things. Slow down and make our choices consciously. How do we align our choices to our vision, ie. move in the direction we want to go, moment by moment? Can we even still do that? I believe we can. There is, though, a lot to understand (about yourself) and sort through (for dynamics of truth or habit) and the only way to do it is slow down (or in the words of the sign I made for the corner of the road near here:

Slow Up FFS – with small images of each of the animals! Although I can't find it now to share a photo so maybe it was stolen!)

We need to first notice when we are making a choice and then we need to reflect on them. We don’t need to be right ... but we do need to let go of the need to be right…oh yes and we must still be able to stand by our decisions with conviction. And finally, if it does turn out to be an error on our part, view that with compassion for our fallibility and take responsibility for it too. Can you get your head around all that?! I have heard that we make thousands of choices every day but don’t be overwhelmed. Just be grateful.

For every choice that you realize you have, you are celebrating the freedom to make it.  One thing we talked about at the retreat was no longer having to make decisions. We should let our higher self make them for us, as they have the extra perspective. This ties in with the idea of ‘getting out of the way’ and ‘letting the process unfold naturally’, which are very difficult things for a restless mind to do. On the one hand it gets stuck in inertia and disillusionment. On the other, it strives and pursues objectives, as if they are going out of fashion…or as if we are running out of time!

As I’ve been an advocate so long, I can hardly yet imagine not responding to those in trouble. However this is what I have to do. We were asked, are we prepared to drop every idea of who we are in order to become who we really are? We can trust that one thing at least will work out better all around; looking inward, taking the power back, not eating anything that is dead or contaminated but residing in a headspace of intentional actions followed by intentional inaction! Yes our intentions must be towards what we want, not what we don’t want. Hold those visions in the crucible of our hearts and emanate the joy and peace they bring, out into the world, but also have patience…in case they don’t materialize overnight!