Courage to enter the Era of Love
What is work?
‘You know what I would love?’, I said to Patrick: ‘that we would separate work from earning money’. I was talking about the world, not our household :-). He gave me that look….here she comes again with her out of the box thinking… It is a thought that crossed my mind more often lately, already pre-Corona. I am not lazy, on the contrary, I am a hard worker. But the definition of ‘work’ shifted hugely for me, over the last few years.
FROM: ‘working hard to earn stuff: time off, feeling useful, contribute to something’.
TO: ‘being aligned within myself to use my life, my talents to serve wherever needed the most’.
Even when I write it down, I feel this huge shift. To me, the two life questions: ‘Who am I? and Why am I here?’ drive my work and seem to be more relevant than ever.
Guts to open our heart
I firmly believe, that we are entering the Era of Love, living with an open heart in all aspects of our life. And I am not talking about some wushy Lalaland. I am talking about having the guts to open our heart, speak our truth, be our truest self, while being very grounded at the same time. And we need courage to enter the Age of the Heart, Coeur in French, the Coeur Age.. And in that era, the answers to those life questions can’t be: I am a doing machine and I am here to earn money as my number 1 priority.
Who am I? And why am I here?
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience. That is one of the many beautiful lessons I learned from native people. So who am I? I am a spiritual being, having a human experience. And in living that human experience I do my best to be as pure as possible and to follow my intuition in how and where I am meant to be. Not do. Which is hard, because we tend to think we are human doings instead of human beings. Addicted to action, to doing.
Why am I here? That is a question that can be answered on different levels. On an individual level, I think I am here to have that human experience, as simple as that. On a more collective level, I think I am here to contribute to our collective consciousness, to learn to live with an open heart, remember how to be human. On an ever higher level (higher balcony, we call it in my work), I think I am here to remember we are all one AND at the same time live a down to earth, simple life, being grounded. And I am also very human in often failing to live my truest self on every level ;-). I just try my best.
Love + love = wisdom.
We need compassion, courage and wisdom. That is what the indigenous people say. All over the world, whatever color or continent. So it is about two times love to be able to understand the core wisdom about our being human, that is how I understand it. Apparently we need courage to live from our hearts. We have come to consider our brain as the highest human good, but slowly there is a movement from head to heart. And native traditions are the most authentic, perfect schools to teach that transformation. They have stayed true to those core values of being human, for millenia and now they are very willing to share all their wisdom with us. Are we willing to listen to it?
Be the change you want to see in the world
True change, transformation, only happens inside out. It doesn’t matter what management book, spiritual teacher, university you listen to, they all have the same message. Be the change you want to see. I consider that an invitation to start with myself. Of course it is easier to point to others, to systems…but organisations and systems don’t transform, people do. And hey, after all, I am in the core of my circle of influence, so do-able! Finding a balance between being and doing can be quite challenging though. Covid-19 mirrors that perfectly. We collectively want to ‘do’, because that gives us a sense of control. I think wellbeing -for ourselves and the earth- lies in the middle of being and doing. That we have to be enough in our being to focus our doing on the right things.
Pause to listen
I pressed the pause button after the first week of Covid lockdown, to listen to myself and nature. During those three weeks, I learned so much. About myself, my family, my work, nature, the world, what is asked of me/us etc… Just by listening. (if you want to know more about these lessons, follow VivU BuntU on facebook.
One of my favorite teachers (without him knowing it ;-)), Otto Scharmer, wrote a beautiful blog about this.
He says: pause, reset and step up. Might sound simple, but there is a lot of wisdom in this response how to enter the Era of Love.
Separating work and money
Sharing is key at the moment. An amazing amount of knowledge is suddenly shared for free, online. Indigenous people come together sharing their wisdom, online. We suddenly share the care of our children by homeschooling, online. So much inspiration is shared, online. To me, this is all about our true ‘work’. And all this work is not about earning money. But about adding value: being a global community supporting each other. About being in the exact right place and right moment. I like the image of a silent revolution: discovering our new normal together by balancing being and doing.
This silent revolution is about pioneering that new normal from the intelligence of the heart.
Silent revolution
(Revised from the 2008 version “Love is the New Religion” from the book The Big Glow), Brian Piergrossi)
On the surface of the planet right now there is a virus sweeping the planet and things seem dark.
Yet through this most challenging moment, something else is happening underground.
An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light.
It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up
You won’t see us on the T.V.
You won’t read about us in the news
You won’t hear about us on the radio
We don’t seek any glory
We don’t wear any uniform
We come in all shapes and sizes
Colors and styles
Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands
You could pass by one of us and not even notice
We go undercover
We remain behind the scenes
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done
Occasionally we spot each other in the street
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way so no one will notice
During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront at night is where the real work takes place
We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no ones is looking
Poems
Hugs
Music
Photography
Movies
Kind words
Smiles
Meditation and prayer
Dance
Social activism
Websites
Blogs
Random acts of kindness
We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
That is the motto that fills our hearts
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place
We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined
Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come
Love is the new religion of the 21st century
You don’t have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it
It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings
Be the change you want to see in the world
Nobody else can do it for you
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have….
All are welcome…