As our society continues to awaken and flourish during this period of vast global change, we must prepare for a new season to emerge. This is the season of inspiration. It is a time for connection between all human beings when awareness expands into heightened empathy for what sets us apart and, at the same time, what unites us.
The season of inspiration does not emerge from one place, rather it is rising from all sides. It is an emergence that will rise from reconciling and grieving what we have lost. Some theorize that change happens from the top down and that the new age must create change from the bottom up. This is linear thinking that limits our ability to witness the change that is occurring and to recognize that change has the power to occur from all directions.
If we are to re-examine history in order to level the playing field, we must also re-examine our stories of how change occurs. The cynicism that surfaces from seeing change only through a lens of empowered versus disempowered perpetuates the division between them. Instead, we must create a new narrative that includes the diverse places from which change arises.
Within every hierarchy, matriarchy and patriarchy is an inspired leader, participant, novice, witness or thinker who has a vision waiting to be expressed that leads us to a place of growth and unity. Of course, there are also those who are interested in standing apart and living by their own unique ideas. Both can co-exist.
To allow another’s differences to hold space, we must observe how we rise to them. Do we rise in anger, curiosity, combativeness, surrender, volatility or peace? Notice when someone’s opinion or viewpoint differs from yours how your thoughts begin to inform you of who you are and who you are not. Also, notice how your thoughts begin to inform you of who you believe the other person to be. Our reactions create a view that is filtered and partial.
To see another in their wholeness, we must become aware of our reactions in order to become aware of the filters we utilize to see and hear them. Our filters are informed by our upbringing, education, social institutions, media and other influences. They shape our thinking and, in some respects, our notion of who we are. Deconstructing these influences can have a deep impact on our worldview. Only when we take our filters away do we begin to see the humanity in each person. We also begin to understand what filters they are using to see themselves and the world around them. Removing our filters means taking down our defenses, which is not an easy feat but a necessary one should we wish to expand into a new plane of compassion. When our defenses are down, we begin to see the heart, the humanity, the soul and not just the ideas that shape the mind. This is when our personal change truly begins. When we no longer need to be right in our opinions of who we are, we begin to see others through the veil of their opinions and begin to see their core. And when we are able to see another’s core, love arises. That’s how we become inspired.
In the season of inspiration, our identification shifts because our feelings are more connected to the appreciation of the expression of each personality. Rather than look at differences critically, we can develop empathy for the ideas that shaped them. We also begin to see that place in us that is like the other—that place where we are all the same and where we all connect. That’s where we become inspired.
And when we find inspiration, we create from the most authentic place within ourselves. These are the creations that shape generations to come. These are the places within us that light our fire. When we are inspired, we shift the plane we are on, the plane of those around us and the plane of our planet. That’s when we become inspired.
So, in some regard, inspiration is the catalyst for change. Not just any change, but the change that lifts us into appreciation, understanding and compassion rather than reactive division and criticism. There is such a place within each and every one of us. But it is not until we feel safe enough to breathe out the expression of our souls that such inspiration can arise.
We must give ourselves permission to allow this emergence from our souls. Permission to live an inspired life in a world that is driven by structures that often beg for the opposite. We must know that when we move into that space, change becomes organic and a new season emerges—a season of inspiration.
It’s time to allow ourselves to enter into this new season; to live our lives from inspiration so that awareness becomes our highest state of being. In this season, we truly live and let love in. We look to those who are doing the greatest good without creating harm to others. We re-examine the consequential idea that rise also equals fall. And perhaps because we become more sentient and complex, we shall rise higher.
So, find what light’s your fire, turns you on, brightens your light. Ask yourself, “how does this inspiration raise the greatest spirit in me?” If your answer does not harm you or others, listen to what arises. Nurture the whisper of your inspiration and allow it to materialize in the new season of you.