The Mirror

 The Mirror

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.

Show me my shadow, so I can overcome all.

Not quite what was said in Snow White, but perhaps it is what should have been. The mirror does not lie – it shows us everything about ourselves, whether we like it or not. We can face and accept what we see, and love it regardless, or we can fight it, deny it, and embark on a fruitless quest to find what we think we need outside of ourselves.

The mirror shows the Wicked Queen that she is not as beautiful or as fair as Snow White. But not only does it show her this comparison of looks, it also brings up all the things that she despises about Snow White. Her goodness. Her kindness. Her purity. The Queen dislikes all of these things about Snow White, because they are things she dislikes in herself. It makes her uncomfortable because she knows those things dwell somewhere inside of her, too, and that makes her even more uncomfortable, because she has buried such things and believes them to be attributes of weakness.

Because, after all, even wicked queens have some shred of light buried deep inside them. They were good, once. Just the same as the majority of us who are good, have a darkness inside us. That is the truth of what mirrors really show us.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

- Carl Jung

People can be mirrors, too. When someone does something that irks us, or upsets us, or makes us downright uncomfortable, we should be questioning why that is so. Usually the mirror is showing us something that we do ourselves, but deny, or it is showing us what we need to work on, face, or change our reaction to. 

The mirror is usually revealing to us our shadow. That innermost part of us that is with us wherever we go, bringing together everything that we don’t like about ourselves or that we don’t want to be, but fear that we are. It combines this with all our insecurities, faults, issues and problems, and works in tandem with the ego to suppress us and keep us from reaching our full potential. Unlike all the other archetypes described by Carl Jung, the “Shadow” does not affect how we see the world, but rather how we see ourselves. No matter how successful or talented or lucky a person is on the outside, they too will have a shadow, bringing up insecurities in some form or another. We all have one – it’s just that some are more in balance than others, depending on how willing we are to dance with it.

And of course, as with the archetypes of people, the shadow too becomes an archetype of society. All that is perceived wrong with the world becomes this mass shadow looming over our heads, keeping us from the freedom of living the way we want to. 

“A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living.”

- Rudolph Steiner

Early on, the one thing I didn’t get about Occupy was the people who didn’t get Occupy. Whether you are a student, a working class citizen balancing on the breadline, one of the lucky ones who has accumulated wealth through either luck or hard graft, or somewhere in the middle, how could you not stand back and look at what Occupy means and feel glad? How can a movement that is peacefully protesting against everything that is corrupt and wrong with the way society works, cause such derision from so many?

I could only conclude that those people who didn’t get it were those people who were stuck in the cycle and afraid of change. Fear works in many ways and one of them is to keep people happy with what they know. What would happen if the establishment changed? What would happen if society had to look at itself and make huge sacrifices and changes for the better?

Learning and growth within my own life, however, led me to realise a further element to Occupy’s opposition – the act of looking in the mirror. Some people don’t want to face up to what is wrong with the world because it means facing up to what is wrong with themselves.

It is far easier to live in a state of denial and perceived pleasure, stuck in the safety of our comfort zone, than to face darkness, pain or suppressed emotions, breaking through into the potentiality of real bliss and moving beyond the comfort zone to the place that we truly want to be, but fail to believe can be anything more than a pipe dream.

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.

Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakes.”

-      Carl Jung

Acknowledging and dealing with this shadow side of ourselves opens us up to true, authentic living. A form of living that comes from the heart. When we are open to our true selves, we are no longer held back by the fears, misconceptions or oppositions of others, because those things only have power over us if we, too, have those fears, misconceptions and oppositions within.

Conquering those inner demons and bringing the shadow back into balance with the rest of ourselves, rather than running from it or hiding it away, means that we can progress forwards and live life according to the way we want and are meant to live it. We open up our hearts and that allows us to have more empathy, more understanding, of the world around us. Greater harmony with ourselves leads to greater harmony with others.

Now, instead of fighting to be heard, or rallying against injustice with the same anger, resentment and hate that those injustices are creating, we can bring to the world a calmer, more peaceful offering. A shining example, a better way, a positive encouragement, rather than an endless battle that can have no end except a negative one. 

Rather than wasting negative energy fighting against something you want to change, be a positive force of energy instead, by being that change, or instigating it, or at least contributing something towards it.

“Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light

but making the darkness conscious.”

~ Carl Jung

In some ways, the dark days of the world can be just the wake up call needed for a population to wake up and realise it has been sleeping. To realise that it is no good crying and shouting over a world turned corrupt and unjust, where only the powerful and wealthy can rule. Those powerful and wealthy folks will keep on doing what they do, so long as everyone else allows them to. The only people who can change the way the world is run is that sleeping population, now awakened and coming to terms with the truth of reality. The work of those who have awakened, now begins.

Some will remain asleep, no matter what you tell them. Shaking them will only make them fight you all the more. Gentle persuasion, however, will bring some of them around.

"Seek out a tree and let it teach you stillness."

- Eckhart Tolle

It is tempting to complain that gentle persuasion will get us nowhere fast. Time is running out. Something big needs to be done right now.

But what is needed more than ever right now is a shift in perception. A shift from fearful, selfish, mind-centred living, to empowered, empathetic, heart-centred living. That takes time, but the times we are living in right now is speeding up this process considerably.

As with so much of issues of spirit, politics, and the health of both man and world, there needs to be balance. A balance of peace, positivity and love, coupled with an empowered determination to stand up for the world and what is right.

It has been a steep learning curve over the past few years. But now, it is time to take that, and stop talking about what needs to be done. Now, it is time to take action, in the most positive ways we can.

"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Ask yourself, what it is that you can offer a world that needs you. And yes, the world does need you, in however large or small a way. That voice in your head that dismisses such a notion? That belongs to your shadow. Don’t let it rule you. Coax it out, face it, listen to it, spend time with it. Heal it. Overcome it. Don’t hide or suppress or destroy it. Bring it into balance with the rest of you.

And then, and only then, will you find yourself capable of so much more than you could ever have dreamed possible.

The more people who can do this, the sooner we will discover that the world is capable of far better things than we could ever have dreamed possible, too.

Taking Back Your Power

“The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true.”

~ Edgar Allan Poe

There is much talk right now of awakening, of becoming empowered, of changing the world. 

Depending on what you read and what floats your boat, you might have read about ascension, or planetary shifts, or public uprisings against governments, or a rise in peaceful protests, or dark nights of the soul, or facing your own shadows to become whole and healed.

I’ve read a lot about many of these things. We know it’s not okay to push back when pushed, because all that leads to is a fight. But it’s not all peace and love either. Nor is positive thinking on its own a magic wand that can right all wrongs.

Much of it is about balance, and much of it is about presence. Or rather, being present. When you are present, you can look more constructively at your scenario, without letting your emotions, your patterns, your ego, run away with you.

You come to realise that you just need to let go, and surrender.

Sometimes, it’s all about saying fuck you… and being okay with that.

Sometimes, it’s all about stepping back, and being at peace, and not having to be right or have your opinion heard… and being okay with that, too.

You can’t have your light without shadow. They co-exist. They are one and the same, because they combine to make all of what you are.

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.

- Carl Jung

Being powerful isn’t about power. Being powerful is about being empowered. Desire to seek power over something or someone stems from fear and a need to control. But empowerment is freedom – it is about letting go and surrendering and tapping into your core self – delving into every part of you and returning to the surface, knowing yourself well enough to know what you want, and who you are, and then going out and doing what it is you want to do, and being who you truly are. Living and speaking your truth is the greatest empowerment of all, and by doing so, you empower others by inspiring them to do the same.

“When Nike says, just do it, that’s a message of empowerment. Why aren’t the rest of us speaking to young people in a voice of inspiration?”

- Naomi Klein

You can read a million books and take a million workshops, but eventually there comes a point where you have to trust YOU. Listen to YOU. Your soul knows. You just have to go inside and find it. You come to realise that those million books and workshops are, in essence, all saying variations of the same things. Just as all stories stem back to one of a handful of universal archetypes, so too do the wisdoms of life all stem back to a handful of fundamental truths.

Similarly, you can repeat the same life lessons over and over, remain stuck in the same patterns for the rest of your life. Or you can choose to learn what you are being taught, and have the freedom to let go, and move on.

“There is progress whether ye are going forward or backward! 
The thing is to move!”

~ Edgar Cayce

It’s easy, oh so easy, to stay stuck in those comfy habits, and patterns, and comfort zones. But we will never achieve our dreams if we stay there. We are energy. Everything around us is energy. To get in the flow, we need to get that energy moving to us, and from us. We don’t achieve that by sitting around thinking about things, although that can help us reach the realisation in the first place. We achieve what we want to achieve by taking action.

Just do it!

“Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.”

~ Carl Gustav Jung

We are all born with an innate gift that we can bring to the world, and that can change the world too. Whether that be the entire world, or the world of one single person, it doesn’t matter. Everything we do as an act of love is vital and important.

The reason so many people never seem to achieve their dreams or realise their talents is because they spend all their life planning and thinking and dreaming, but not doing. There is no reason to put it off until tomorrow, or keep on practising in secret until perfect. Don’t focus on the goal, because that just turns it into something far away and often seemingly impossible. The truth is that nothing is about the goal. It is all about the journey. That is how you fail and learn, and grow and come to create something even more wonderful, even more powerful, than you originally dreamed.

Every day, we are giving our power away to fears, doubts, lack, excuses, ego, other people, and those with false power.

No more.

Embrace the journey. Take action right now. All you need to do is to begin, and allow yourself to go with the flow of where life takes you.

Let’s start taking back our power, today. 

The Peaceful Activist

"I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there." 


~ Mother Teresa

Activism. Now there’s a word that can split a room. There are those who are willing to put themselves out there to fight for what’s right and just in the world, and others who believe that the law is the law and people should just put up and shut up.

“In this world hate 
never yet dispelled hate.
 
Only love dispels hate.
 This is the law,
 
ancient and inexhaustible.”



- Buddha

However, much like Buddha taught of the Middle Path, so too is there a middle way for activism, and more and more people are coming to realise that.

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek,

but a means by which we arrive at that goal."


~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Recent peaceful activism has grown out of the roots of the likes of Egypt and spread across the world. Whether you look to Occupy or Tar Sands or other similar protests, people are waking up to the fact that you can’t fight violence with violence, and war does not end war.

“Peace is your natural state, 
it is the mind that obstructs the natural state.”

- Swami Turiyananda

The best indication that peaceful activism is a “threat” to those in corrupt power is the fact that more and more laws, regulations and injunctions are coming into effect to prevent protests (even peaceful ones) from taking place near certain people, places and companies.

The key now is for activism to not lose its way. To not lose steam or motivation or effectiveness, despite the onslaught of both court of law and divided public opinion. Now is the time for it to evolve, focus, and walk the talk. The time has come to stop wasting energy and time and resources on fighting losing battles. The time has come to stand up, lead by example, and set down the foundations for a new way.

But who will be brave enough, and bold enough, and love enough, to do this?

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, 
there is a field. I will meet you there."

- Rumi

If we value ourselves, and our world, and our fellow humanity, then we all should.

This is our time.

Nothing to Give?

The Only Person Who Can Save You...

IS YOU

 

Sure, there are plenty of people to blame out there. Friends, family, enemies, councils, corporations, entire governments.

You can be angry, you can be resentful, you can hold a grudge.

But all that really does is hurt you.

“You are not what you think you are.
 

But, what you think ... you are.

”

- Norman Vincent Peale

Let go. Surrender to the flow.

See everything as an opportunity to learn a lesson, and grow.

Go deep within you, and find your shadow side. Accept it. Don’t hide from it. Heal it, and bring it into balance with the light of who you are.

Be passionate about life, and go for it.

Sure, get angry about injustices. But use that anger to birth something new and beautiful, rather than harbouring a rage within.

Don’t fight a losing battle. Create a new beginning.

Lead by example. Be what you want the world to be.

Love yourself, unconditionally, and do the same for others.

Change yourself, and change the world. 

No Compromise

Every Little Helps… The True Meaning of Giving

‎"Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and yet it is the humblest imaginable."



~ Mahatma Gandhi

Just because times are hard, it doesn’t mean everyone should be out for themselves. It doesn’t mean that we should turn our back on others in need.

Just because we don’t have enough money for ourselves, let alone a charity, it doesn’t mean we can’t still give something.

"In this life we cannot always do great things.

But we can do small things with great love." 



- Mother Teresa

Even when we have nothing, we can still give something. Time costs nothing. Love costs nothing. An idea, some reassurance, a helping hand, a sympathetic ear, a kind word. These things all cost nothing.

“What you do today can improve all tomorrows.

”

-Ralph Marston

We can still give, even when we have nothing. Pennies saved in a jar will eventually amount to a donation that can make a difference. Old clothes that no longer fit or suit, can keep a homeless person warm. Blood donated at the hospital, can save someone’s life.

“When we are no longer able to change the situation,
 we are challenged to change ourselves.

”

-Viktor Frankl

There may literally be nothing physical that we can give. But that doesn’t mean we can’t give something non-physical. Change your perspective. Open your heart. It is the giving and receiving that counts in the flow of all things. Money is just one form of energy exchange – there are plenty of others. Love, kindness, help, support, inspiration, a moment of our time – giving these things freely and joyfully is of equal, if not greater importance.

"The difference between comfort and nurture is this: if you have a plant that is sick because you keep it in a dark closet, and you say soothing words to it, that is comfort. If you take the plant out of the closet and put it in the sun, give it something to drink, and then talk to it, that is nurture."

- Clarissa Pinkola Estes,

Women Who Run With the Wolves

Similarly, there is plenty to be done for the causes of this world aside from giving financial aid. If we want to continue supporting our favourite charities or causes but can’t afford to donate, help in other ways. Raise awareness. Lead by example. Volunteer. Teach. Inspire. Nurture. All the money in the world can’t change some grievances in the world, the only way to change them is to change the way we think.

"If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace."


~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Give freely what you can, with love and joy. Give energy supporting what you believe in, rather than wasting energy fighting against that which you don’t. Work on changing yourself, in order to help change the world. That is one of the greatest gifts we can give. Imagine if we all gave that!

Finally, remember this.

“No one ever really knows how much anyone else is hurting. We could be standing next to someone who's completely broken and we'll never know, but if our own heart is full of love and compassion we could be that person’s saving grace.”

- Michele Burnell

If we have love, then there is nothing that we cannot give.