“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” ~ Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell’s wise words can be equally applied to ANY feelings we may have in response to what is happening in our physical world. Because after all, being alive is not limited to the rapture. It also includes sadness, disgust, anger, guilt, fear or any other shadow aspects that we experience.
As we watch and debate the environmental and humanitarian situations unfolding around us in all corners of the globe, we are questioning our attitudes, lifestyle, and priorities.
As Within, So Without
But while searching for physical solutions on both a personal and global level we must also search for where we must change within.
For when we KNOW that the material world about us is simply a reflection of our inner landscape, we understand that in order to reach a solution for the earth and its people and wildlife we must first change our inner world.
It is important to first identify what we each individually see as the factors contributing to the problem in the outer world. Then we can observe how, and where, those same factors are present within.
For example, if you see lack of transparency in government as a problem you need to consider how and what, you are hiding behind smoke and mirrors within.
Perhaps you see the fossil fuel use as a major contributor to climate change. But actual fossil fuel won’t be the problem for your inner world. Rather, consider what it is about our use of fossil fuels that is the problem. Then ask how and where this attitude, belief or habit also applies to your own attitudes, beliefs and habits.
Look beyond the actual issue to what is upsetting to YOU about it, to what YOU see as the crucial catalyst.
This is the signpost to the area within that is out of balance.
In many indigenous cultures the passage into becoming a man or woman requires the person take full responsibility for whatever then happens in their life. It requires them to OWN the pathway of their life. It is only at this point, when they do this, that they are recognised as an adult,
This is Responsibility.
It’s time to take responsibility for our worlds – starting with our inner world first as we also begin to change our habits in the outer material world.