The Opposing Forces of Society & Soul

Photo: Life in Ceremony

Life has been tricky lately. I work to center myself on peace and stillness many days as the world seemingly erupts around me. To the eye, my community feels nothing. The surfers still run down the streets, surfboard underarm and bare feet, eyes set on the sea. The coffee shops and restaurants abundantly lining the town (and new ones emerging everyday) are still stirring with nonchalant conversation with their nut-free, dairy free, half-caff latte art. The construction workers still arise each morning, far too early in my humble opinion, to form the next oversized house in that lot that once was soft with earth and a wholesome emptiness. It all is business as usual. But our nervous systems undeniably feel the strain that has grown deep into the roots of our society.

The one we see on the news, and in the endless stream of TikTok’s and Insta Reels of people expressing their heartfelt woes with the economy, cost of living, Ai development and its non-capacity for human softness, and right vs. left politics and mentality in all things. The one we all knew very intimately durning the extent of global lock downs during the pandemic. I for one just want to be tucked away from the monotonous society of this western world. Off in some deserted open landscape or a tiny cabin nestled in the woods. That is all my heart desires. Solace. But of course, this isn’t always the answer. To retreat.

However, I do feel the need for some isolation, or rather solitude, in my own thoughts and heart currently. It can feel a bit maddening at times to sit with it. But I still feel the dire need for it. To sit and listen. To sit and be still amongst the chaos.

I yearn for a time when we as people acknowledged the need for this solace. When people still had a right to “go away” at times when we reached a deep need for healing and resolve, and it was socially acceptable to do so. In stories of the past, it seems those who found themselves overwhelmed and affected where often prescribed a simple, softer way of living. A retreat into ones self and into nature, in the name of restoring health and vitality. And sometimes, even sanity.

But now we find ourselves in a time where there is always some pill you can take to “get through it”. Some pricey vacation you can save up for and look to in anticipation. And of course a spa day or self care product you can purchase to get past it all. Or rather, put it on the back burner just a little longer while you stay productive at all costs. What a world we have created. How do we reverse it all? Or rather, how do we reinstate our right to choose for ourselves which form of the world we will embrace individually?

I often don’t feel like everyone else. I never really have. I’ve always felt that I see too much that so many are seemingly blind to. Which inadvertently makes it nearly impossible to adopt the practices of living like everyone else does. That which we have grown fully accustomed to as modern-day life as usual. I want to be sensitive here and don’t want to call anyone out. But we live in an age of great ignorance. Or at least such intense overwhelm that most choose to cover their eyes and hide under the blankets at the scary noises pacing down the hall. I see us as a people that are often deafened, dumbed, and distracted by the shiny things, the carrots dangled in front of us. Always pulling further and further out of reach.

Often to my detriment, I feel more aligned to the birds hovering above the canyons. To my dog and his instincts. To the wind as it brushes softly through the trees, caressing them and then leaving them in stillness once more. That all makes sense to me. The pulse of that world feels right and inherent in my body and being. But this also holds of little value to this society we are in large a part of undeniably. The one we are expected to pulse with each day.

I often feel suffocated within the walls of our highly productive society. I’d much rather sit on my butt in the grass and stare out into nothingness all around me then figure out the next way to build income streams, wealth and achievement. What for?

It all feels redundant when you have already witnessed the abundance and great beauty that nature has achieved all on its own. In fact, its all come to be in spite of our endless determination to tear it down. It prevails. Yet we label it as worthless in the name of the GODP and “infinite” capitalist growth.

However nature is already complete. And therefore we are already complete as an integral part of it. It seems now our work has merely become to prove this to the world around us. The one so blind to see it.

So I ask you to find a moment of stillness within yourselves, as I work to do the same. Check in with what is truly lying beneath the surface. The desires, the temptations, the anxiety and fear. The deep yearning for true human connection, for true connection in all things really.

How can you begin to attune to what arises? To not run from it. To not retreat from the world. But to move forward into it as you go about your life, carrying with you an intense integrity and discernment for what truly matters. For what YOU would like to create. Not what we are told is our undeniable job on this earth.

And in the face of this uncertainty, I leave you with the gentle words of Alan Watts. Simple yet energizing as we move through times that require great awareness and personal responsibility as a people (and individual).

“ To live without certainty is to live like a child again. With eyes wide open. Astonished at the unfolding of each moment. You realize that not knowing is not a failure but a doorway. That freedom is not in answers, but in presence.

You discover that holding onto blame is like drinking poison and hoping the other to fall.

(That) being human is not the obstacle of awakening, it is the vehicle.

As what is false falls away, what is real remains. And what is real is simple, present, silent. It is you, as you are. Without performance, without masks.

The path to awakening is not about adding layers of wisdom, but about peeling away everything that is not true.”

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Does this call to action resonate with you? I would love to hear from you about your own experience at this time. As always, thank you for being here in this community.

In gratitude, presence, practice and surrender.