
As the past few weeks have unfolded I have found myself slipping into a movie I didn’t ask to watch, never mind be part of. I have had moments of disbelief as I have watched or heard certain messages or posts in the media. And to be honest, it has kind of paralysed me. I have felt a moral obligation, as a healthcare practitioner, to offer assistance yet have been unable to do so. I am in the occupational space of connection, reconnection, holding space, engaging in therapeutic conversations, searching for meaning and yet I have found myself watching this movie and wondering at what point does my character make an appearance? At what point do any of us make an appearance or are we all just the extras, to fill in the gaps and landscape for the main actors? And who are those?
And so I have watched and puzzled. I have watched social media and main stream media. And then defaulted to my core response to most things – READ. Find out. Question. I woke up this morning with a clear thought in my head that knowledge is power. And that beautiful line: And the truth will set you free. But how to get to the truth when there is so much stuff bombarding us daily? And most of the things being sent to us or what we see on the news is creating more fear in us by the day. Fear not only of the virus, but fear of financial collapse and ruin. The fear of “how will things ever get back to how they were”.
As long as we are letting Fear consume us, our Pre-frontal cortex is not online, which means that our centre of the brain that allows us to reason, think logically and practically, that problem solves is NOT WORKING. Not a good time for that to happen. We need clear and rational thought to enable us to seek the truth. My truth may not be the same as yours but if you have spent time researching, reading and broadening your knowledge base, the truth will be balanced and well thought out.
So where do we begin looking? We live in a time where we are so privileged with information being at our fingertips whenever we need it. If you are sent a news clip or piece of advice, go and research the root of it. It is not that difficult. Cross-reference things. Watch varied news channels including perhaps Russian TV, or sign up with Gaia TV. The point is to balance the news you are getting and practice and sharpen your own skill of rationalizing and reasoning from a broad base. These are just examples but there are many places to seek news and current stories about our world and what is happening.
Take the subject or aspect of your life you are currently struggling with and start finding information to support and assist you. When you broaden your view the fear dissipates. It is with a narrow view that fear can grow exponentially. For example, while faced with the challenge of being in a home with your children all day every day, practice your parenting skills – look at Dr. Shefali’s work on Conscious Parenting. If you are struggling with your partner due to living in close proximity for together for so many days then seek out the beautiful work by Dr Esther Perel. If you hear a story about lemons being a cure for the virus, go and do some digging. Look at Precision Nutrition or examine.com, as examples of websites with balanced information. If Anxiety and Depression are living with you at the moment, seek the wise words of people like Johann Hari, Dr. Gabor Mate, Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra – the list is endless and the beauty is that one will lead to the next, to the next, to the next…. Wanting to start a better health practice there are so many amazing people to listen to: try Dr.Gabor Mate for emotional healing or perhaps Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health. Heart/head coherence is a space we should all be moving into and Joe Dispenza does amazing work on this topic. How about our environment? Heard of Charles Eisenstein? His beautiful work on climate and our world and speaking about an attitude of Love being the new currency and panacea for all. Want some facts and figures then look at Hans Roslings work called Factfulness and an amazing website showing world stats. His greatest message: reason from a broad base. Concerned about G5and our health then start digging and find out more. What about mandatory vaccinations? Find out and understand the basics of vaccinations first. Perhaps do some reading around the immune system – a fantastic explanation is Bill Bryson’s book The Body and the chapter on The Immune System. Sign up for Audible for some of these titles or just for the sheer pleasure of beautiful stories, and fill your heart and mind with lyrical words like The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermaster or find the gems by Isabelle Allende or Paulo Coehelo, Laura Esquivel. Immerse yourself in the magical stories by Clarissa Pinkola Estes as she offers glimpses into our symbolic selves. Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History on Podcast or any of his books, perhaps his latest one on the Truth-Default in Talking to Strangers (synchronicity has me reading this currently about how we default to believing what we are told despite the red-flags we feel). Watch TED Talks, follow inspiring people on Instagram like Russel Brand and National Geographic wildlife to remind you of this incredible world around us.
Engage with information in a way that you are the treasure hunter, always looking for the next nugget, which leads you to believe there is another. It is absolutely vital that we open our eyes, ears and hearts to the plethora of what is out there. It is our biggest asset – the ability to access information, which allows us to question, ponder, wonder and be curious. Each of us has a role to play and that is to broaden our minds. Read things that are normally out of your range of interest, cross reference. Do not let fear strip you of the one things we all need to be doing – being rational and logical human beings and looking at the world with awe and wonder and being active participants.
My realization this morning was I have not been passive. I am in this movie and have always been. I can choose the role I play. I am not going to just be an extra. These past few days I have actively sought out the anomalies, the curious stories, the discrepancies, the beauty, the wonder. When I can be in a place of calm I hope my energy spills out to others, my family, and allows them the clear-thinking space to discover.
Comments are closed.