I don’t like to admit it, but it’s a mess. There are so many things that feel out of place, too many things trying to occupy the same space and regardless of race, everyone’s mind can be what unites the world or what destroys it. We need some way to clean it up.
It’s National Clean Up Your Room Day and it really does all start there – our own physical and mental spaces. We expect and even demand so many things from our outer world to go a certain way and what if it starts with how well we’re cleaning up our mental and physical “rooms”?
The messes we’ve created are on every aisle of history and while there are places to put blame, there is even more behind each incident than one person’s story. There is more behind one cultural tradition or behind one planet’s journey than we can ever know. We are all moving along some evolutionary path where in many ways, it seems not much has changed. According to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, an ancient text some 3,000-5,000 years old and the way the Yogic path is detailed, the mind has always been the center of worldly problems. And, it’s also the mind that is at the center of beautiful expressions of humanity and can journey beyond the limitations of duality and sensory experience. The directions the mind moves and therefore the body is carried, varies depending on many factors. Some would say nurture and nature, others would say karma or chaos theory. Whatever it is, it could be considered the most flexible part of ourselves that with proper exercise and direction, could become a powerhouse! But what tends to happen, is it becomes a habit-house.
We are products of our environment – meaning we are literally born from the elements of the earth and sky. Nature is fierce and resilient. A delicate blade of grass or small flower can push itself through the concrete, reaching to the sun. Our oceans can take massive oil spills and work to clear it up. (Though, we also have over 400 ocean dead zones primarily created because of animal wastes aka “agricultural runoff.” Read more from scientificamerican.com). Fires can ravage through areas like the Amazon Rainforest (a similar complaint where logging and clearcutting is happening to create areas for cattle grazing and agricultural farming.) and partially recover though likely not in our lifetime. (Rainforest trees aren’t adaptive to fire – read more from bbc.com. Some forest fires have less damage in the long run because certain trees build a tolerance to the flames and remain alive. Read the top 8 trees that are fire resistant from frontlinewildfire.com.
We too, are fierce and resilient to some things but incredibly vulnerable to others. Words can empower us or can knock us down and even cause death by the power of suggestion alone. Our world history shows a planet of beings actively seeking to understand our reason for being. Our nature is to expand and contract, to conquer and survive, to dream and to love. We have the capacity to transform, to uplift, to make peace and make war. We can be a hateful person who does something nice, or a noble person who falls from grace. Is it our physical body that sends things south or our clever mind or simply the nature of life on earth where gravity pulls everything down? Or are we fighters who long to reach the answers far off in cosmic space or deep within our very own psyche?
How do we fuel our thoughts? How do we fuel our day? How do we fuel our body? I think these all relate and the answers and even the response to the questions can be illuminating. Are we digesting the harms of this planet by what we do, buy and eat? Or are we nurturing this magical planet and the temple of self by our choices? Do we prefer not to know or to know and not want to hear? Does it seem inaccessible and limited to those who have money and/or power?
I won’t give all of my answers. I’m curious what yours are. Just like a day to clean off the desk or clean up a room, we need to make time to refresh our minds or clean out our hearts. We can manage the messes, work around the spills but chances are things will build up one day and our garbage truck of negative influence that’s filled to the brim will come crashing down on an unsuspecting victim.
It’s been a rough pandemic year and still too much going poorly across the globe. Fighting, killing, trafficking, looting – these are part of an endless story of life on this planet and it impacts each of us whether emotionally or energetically. We are all impacted differently, aware of stories from different parts of the globe, and could benefit from some relief. The healing arts like meditation and qigong or the integrative practices like yoga and creative arts are ancient tools that continue to help us make our way.
Listening to Mother Nature, we learn about ourselves and even our highest potential. Pause and stare at nature’s wonder before too many hours of endless work, endless news and endless purchasing. Take a moment to break from the usual responses to things and let a cool breeze move across the mind, or jump in and let a flowing river wash away the cares for a moment. Even starting with a 1-minute meditation everyday could be life-changing. The power to shift the mind is in our hands. And for those of us that have the luxury to add mindfulness in our day, let that include thinking of those who don’t have the luxury. Whether due to illness or lack of awareness, due to opposing beliefs or life stuck in survival mode, many people won’t be able to meet us. But our work can help us build the bridge that reaches over to help them. It won’t be easy, it may seem impossible. But that’s just the mind getting in the way. So start with National Clean Up Your Room Day and then let’s have International Clean Up Our Mind Day!
