Change in the world is more obvious just now

It started in Tunisia, moved to Egypt, then to Bahrain, Yemen and Libya. I’m not quite sure what the “it” is—maybe the use of social media and the wider world’s lack of tolerance for brutal suppression are providing a method, an opening  and support for fundamental change that will bring greater humanity, justice and possibility to the region.

But maybe what replaces the current governments will be worse in terms of how people are treated and how the future unfolds. No one can know this now. We are noticing, though, that some things that we thought were pretty solid are shifting quickly and dramatically. Sometimes it takes speed and shocking events for us to remember that nothing is settled, that everything is moving all the time. We quickly forget that and go back to sleep, embedded in our everyday concerns.

Japan is in the midst of huge human suffering, uncertainty and danger. All that brought about by a few terrible moments of the earth shaking and the ocean rising up. Out of nothing and immediately –  everything changed.

Is something larger shifting in the world overall? Are new patterns of force and organization coming about? For me it feels that way.

When long-standing situations are put in play and large-scale change becomes possible it seems to me that the most important action for us to take is to clarify who we are, determine what is centrally important for us, and remember that we are all in this together.

Yes, we can reach out and help, in whatever way we can, the people who are going through these tremendously difficult circumstances. But we can also use these current events to awaken ourselves to the complex, ever-changing dynamism of life.

Living balanced and relaxed and always on our toes seems the way to exist harmoniously with everyone and everything around us. Always ready to respond in a way that’s necessary—staying alert and available to change—because that is what will keep happening: change.

How are you relating to almost happening in the world right now?