Coronavirus - David S. Goodsell
(This is Part 3 of a free series to support you during this period)
Not so long ago, my ‘normal’ was working up to 4 jobs at a time. I’d push my body to it’s limits, working up to 16 hour days, 7 days a week. Cramming in partying on top of work meant I’d skip sleep completely 1-2 nights a week, going directly from the bar or club to one of my jobs the next morning. I’d scoff down meals on the go, or not eat at all. I’d quickly change uniforms on public transport while rushing from one job to the next. I ran on caffeine, sugar and adrenaline.
I lived that way for many years. It was familiar and normal to me.
It took me a long time to unlearn my patterns of over-working, over-committing, and constantly doing. I was terrified that doing less meant I was ‘lazy’. Subconsciously, I was also afraid of what emotions and old trauma might ‘come up’ if I slowed down and had time to myself.
So, like so many of us, I stayed busy.
I kept my focus on the world outside of me.
I distracted myself by filling my calendar with commitments, working through a never-ending ‘to do’ list, using social media, watching TV, drinking and taking drugs.
Working, hustling, doing, pushing, forcing… these are masculine aspects within each of us.
Resting, nurturing, allowing, flowing, slowing down… these are feminine aspects within each of us.
As a society, we have been living in our masculine energy for so long that we consider it ‘normal’.
The truth is, myself and many others have known for a long time that that ‘normal’ is far removed from what is actually ‘normal’ on this Earth. We are human beings, not human doings. Our patriarchal society exists within the energy of the masculine, and a recalibration back to balance with the feminine is required. As a society we have gotten very, very lost.
So I see this period as an incredible collective opportunity for us to become more conscious.
We are being called to ‘wake up’.
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In my experience, the Universe (or God, Goddess, Gaia, our Spirit Guides - whatever you name the greater powers in this world) sends us prompts that we need to change something. At first, the prompts are subtle. If we continue as we were, the message gets bigger and louder. For example, maybe you’ve been overworking. The Universe creates an opportunity for a holiday for you. You don’t take time off… you keep working. The next prompt is a mild illness - you get a cold. You ignore that and continue working. You get sick again not long afterwards, and this time it’s more serious. You take just one day off but spend that time checking emails and answering phone calls anyway. So the next prompt is a significant injury, that forces you to spend several weeks in bed resting, so that you finally take time out.
We have collectively ignored the Universe’s whispers to slow down. The messages got louder and louder. Yet we still ignored them.
So the Universe had to yell. The message needed to be amplified and harder to ignore.
The origin of the word ‘catastrophe’ is a sudden turn; a turning point. The present catastrophe is an impetus for collective change. COVID-19 is a virus but also a medicine.
There has been an interruption to our ‘normal’. A forced paring back of all the ‘stuff’ we had going on, so that we can see with more clarity what our real values are.
We have a chance to reflect, reconsider and reset. To break long-term patterns of ‘busy-ness’ and rushing. To consciously choose differently where needed.
Your pre-lockdown life doesn’t need to have been as hectic as my over-working example above to still have been too busy.
You have been given time and space for reflection.
So I ask you to consider: how much of your life was your idea?
How much of it did you consciously choose out of self-love, rather than obligation or fear or habit?
Were you trying to fit someone else’s version of something, influenced by parents or peers or the media, rather than by what you truly want in your own heart?
Have you been shunning and minimising parts of yourself, neglecting the things you actually want to be doing?
What would your life look like if you consciously created every part of it?
You have a chance to intentionally rebuild your reality now, only adding back in things that you genuinely love. Let go of the rest. You can contribute to global transformation in this way.
You have the power.
