Earth Ages, change and pockets of turbulence

I guess it's human nature to notice the things that others possess – I'm speaking materially here – that reflect our own taste, or choice. If you drive a silver car no doubt you notice silver cars everywhere, and conclude that there are a lot of them. If you walk a poodle, own an iPad, read The Guardian, for instance, you notice said items everywhere, I imagine (I don't own a silver car, poodle or iPad).

Psychology suggests too that we notice in others traits, both positive and negative, that are our own (and often unrecognised) traits. That's a whole other blog, or few hundred.

So it's the case, too, that when one is going through the mill, it seems that everyone else is as well. There may be an element of self-selection at work: one gravitates to others who will understand and offer support because they know the deal.

I meet in the course of my work a great many people who are deeply aware of the uncertainties and troubles in all our lives, globally, and who themselves are facing huge upheavals in their personal lives, and actively searching for more sustainable ways forward, both politically and in terms of lifestyle choices, and on a personal psychospiritual level. (TM would say that is because these people are self-selecting in that it is a certain 'type' of person, often, or someone in a certain type of circumstance, who will be seeking out the work I do [which is quite a lot more than 'simply' teaching people to write]. There is also the demographic, here, near Totnes – alternative capital of the southwest [with Stroud and Glastonbury], and a place that draws many people looking for a philosophy not entirely rooted in consumerism based on exploitation, material gain and status. It's not a coincidence that this is the birthplace of the Transition Town movement, currently growing exponentially.)

As many before me have said, we live in a time of unprecedented and massive change: climatically, economically, culturally, socially, spiritually. As far as we can tell, some of the challenges facing us may well be unique in detail and ramifications to our highly-technologically-developed culture.

If we don't want to destroy our species, let alone other species and the planet, we need to adapt, and fast; and if you take the worldview of interconnectedness that I do, what affects the one (individual/family/business/culture/nation/species) affects the whole. We are not isolated little units; everything we do has a consequence.

Times of great change require a strenuous response, and dedicated effort to effect the shift in consciousness that these times are requiring of us; and it is my belief that if we turn a blind eye the response needed will grab us anyway. It makes sense to go willingly, consciously, if we can.

I don't speak often about such things here as I'm wary of accusations of New Age triteness; but what can we expect from a time where the beginning of a new century and a new millenium coincides with a New Earth Age in the 2000-year cycle of earth ages? The last two thousand years, connected with the Christ, have been, some say, about learning to love and its shadow: the unleashing of hatred and aggression (the 'spiritual' warrior and the 'ego-oriented' warrior). Now, the Age of Aquarius demands a playing out of humanitarian values on a global scale, with an ushering-in of a more inclusive political and spiritual perspective.

Of course there is turbulence as the old and the new clash. Of course we as individuals will find collective issues mirrored in our personal lives, and vice versa. Of course those of us who are most sensitive will be conduits for collective issues (well, we all are, clearly; but the sensitives often pay the price). Of course how we handle all this will have a ripple effect.

And of course, we're not alone.