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Uncharted Waters

by CAROLINE PHIPPS

It’s breathtaking to think that there is little about our lives today that feels the same as it did this time last year (which, incidentally, feels like a lifetime ago). To continue the analogy, it’s as if the storm has blown us far off the life course we had imagined and now we have to navigate uncharted waters with no idea what’s in store. All we can be sure of is that we’ve left the apparent “safety” of what was and, not only can we not go back, but the old world constructs only exist in our collective memory.

These are unprecedented times! This much used phrase may have become the cliché, catch all description of the last few years, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a great deal of truth to it. With global forces, beyond our power to control, colliding to create the perfect storm, these are truly unprecedented times. This profound disturbance to the natural, and manmade, status quo is affecting every thing we do now and everything we will do, going forward.

As we are buffeted by these volatile waves, there are moments, as the wave crests, when we get a tantalizing glimpse of a new and potentially optimistic horizon. But the inevitable trough that follows plunges us back into darkness and disorientation as we lose our bearings once more. One moment we feel excited, curious, and ready for something new and in the next moment we feel fearful and ill-prepared for whatever it might be. It’s a wild ride, to be sure, that leaves many of us feel anxious, restless and extremely queasy.

This is a journey impossible to escape. Our only productive course is to work with it. One way to achieve this is to see this time as a gift that gives us the space to take a personal inventory of our beliefs and behavior. For if the new world is to be a place where we can all thrive, it will demand a great deal more of us than the old world ever did. Love is all you need, it’s better to be kind than right, care for others as you wish to be cared for are no longer idealized concepts to try to live up to, they are now vital for our very survival.

The exquisite beauty inherent here is that all of this is totally self-sustaining. We don’t have to worry about running out of love, running out of kindness or running out of empathy unless, of course, we choose to cut it off. We can be the very embodiment of love, kindness and empathy when we choose to be so.

This abundant world view releases us from the exhausting and destructive nature of unhealthy competition and the creation of enemies to blame for our woes. There is so much untapped talent in the world that to shift from the love of power over others less fortunate, to harness the power of love that is inclusive and empowering, can only help us all on our unprecedented voyage to the new world awaiting somewhere on the horizon.

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