You may be aware that we’re in the middle of the COP27 meeting in Egypt. At the Conference of the Parties (COP) world leaders gather each year to discuss the climate crisis and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Despite the rhetoric at previous meetings on bringing the global emissions of climate influencing greenhouse gases under control, the actual progress being made has been limited.
Given the enormity of our predicament, can we wait for the politicians and governments to deliver on the agreements they’ve made?
Who will heal the people and planet? Will it be you!
Who will be the agents of change? Who will bring us back into harmony and balance before we self-destruct?
Will it be the politicians, governments, corporations or you and me? Perhaps, it’s a little futile to ask where change can begin.
It’s obvious we are a complex interconnected organism. As people, we are the individual cells. We come together to form governments, nations and corporations, the organs, and together we make up the body of humanity.
So how well you are, in the deepest sense, influences the cells around you, and the organs you’re part of. How you participate in the global economy matters! Because, I believe this and the consciousness behind it, is what’s causing the problem. The energy exchange you have as a cell, the organs you from part of, what you consume and what you contribute to with your energy, through your work, all influence the economy on planet earth in a destructive or a Regenerative Way. As cells in this structure, when we begin to heal ourselves, we begin to heal the organs we are part of and therefore the whole body.
On balance, as a cell, we are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Am I contributing to and perpetuating the issues we face as humanity? Or am I adding my grain of sand to turning the tide on the incoming tsunami?
The Great Wave
I had a coaching session with a client a while back. She had a heartfelt desire to be part of the solution. Even though she does very valuable work, she felt like she was idly standing by, as a spectator, while things continue to deteriorate with politicians, governments, and corporations pointing fingers at each other. She had an interesting image of how she felt, which perhaps resonates in the hearts of many.
It was this: she visualised herself casually painting a house by the shore. She was aware that a tsunami was coming but she continued to paint the house. A lot of the people around her were also busily engaged in activities which really didn’t matter in light of the incoming danger. There was a mountain rising from the shore which gave refuge and a solution to the approaching danger. However, no one was interested in starting to climb. All the people were too busy engaging in their ‘business as usual’ it seemed.
What she saw in the end was that she was in a position to start mobilising people around her. Even though there was inertia to climb such a huge mountain, she could take the first step, by gathering the people around her, facing the situation collectively and doing her part.
The Great Turning
This reminds me of the work of Joanna Macy, whom I had the pleasure of once meeting. I got the sense of a human being that deeply cared for what happened on this planet. She has dedicated her life to influencing that for the better. For many decades, she has been doing the work of helping people presence their feelings in response to the unthinkable consequences of climate change and the global chaos we’re in the process of. Helping people first feel their fear, numbness, and paralysis to mobilise them to make the contribution they can.
If you’re interested in this work, you can check out an easy introduction through a free online course called Active Hope.
We do not need to be overcome by a Great Wave which wipes out the human race, the sixth mass extinction event on the planet. We are a Great Turning towards all the beauty that we are capable of, the Great Wave that overcomes and heal the people and planet.
COP – Change our Priorities
Our heaven or hell is of our making. Am I contributing to and perpetuating the issues we face as humanity? Or adding my grain of sand to turning the tide on the incoming tsunami?
I discovered that there are a number of phrasal verbs with ‘cop’ in it.
Cop it, cop out or cop on!?
Our choice.
Which will it be?
Who will heal the people and planet? Will it be you?
Image: The Great Wave – Under the Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai (ironically, this has been one of my favourite painting for many years!)
