From Fireworks to Healing Circles: Choosing Love in Uncertain Times
In the history of the collective as in the history of the individual,
everything depends on the development of consciousness.
~ Carl Jung
Dear Friends,
Flashback: It is the night of July Fourth, 2016, and I am standing in the middle of the Melbourne Causeway. The fireworks over the Indian River are about to start and the national anthem is playing. I’m excited, exuberant even, because I love the idealistic, humanistic and revolutionary vision which created this country and its ongoing struggle to realize that vision . . . and I believe so strongly that another milestone of progress will happen in November when we elect our first female president.
I love fireworks and so, leaving Mike with our beach chairs, I had walked a half-mile up the causeway to get closer to them. At some point, I turn to the stranger beside me, grab his hands and say, “Please, will you hold this vision with me—right now—that our country can really be what its founding people believed it could be!” The stranger looks totally confused by my words and actions, smiles a little and nods before quickly dropping my hands.
🌍 Waking Up in a Different World
And now, nine years later, there's a part of me that sometimes wakes up at night with apocalyptic dreams. Will our democracy survive? Will we do enough to address climate change in time? Will humans stop killing and start taking care — more and much better care — of each other? Will we discover our capacity for true wisdom and universal compassion—and act on it? And, most importantly, if so, how do we get there?
~~~~~~
It may seem obvious that humans need to change. But do we want to? And can enough of us change, and change enough, and change soon enough to create with our collective consciousness a world of peace and plenty, a "promised land" of freedom and justice for all?
I believe that the answer is yes, yes, yes and yes.
Everything has been evolving since the Big Bang (almost 14 billion years ago) and it happens whenever two or more things combine to make a third, different, more complex thing, as in "subatomic particles unite to form atoms, atoms unite to form molecules, molecules unite to form cells, cells unite to form organisms." At some point, evolution of species also involved not just becoming more complex but also more conscious.
This is how Homo Sapiens Sapiens (he who knows that he knows) came to be, and now it's time for our next stage of evolution. Only now, we have to choose it. For our collective consciousness to create a more peaceful, just world, our individual selves have to want to become more kind, loving, courageous and awakened. Thank goodness we have so many spiritual masters and humanitarian geniuses who have come before us to show us how.
🕊️ Mark Your Calendar: A Gathering for Peace
On September 21st, 2025, in honor of the International Day of Peace, I'll share more about the how and why of this evolution/revolution of consciousness at the UU Church of Brevard's Sunday service, and then, with other teachers and healers, we will offer a Healing Circle for Peace. All are welcome!
💫 What To Do When the World Feels Heavy
Meanwhile, if your parts have bad dreams, here's what might help:
Be mindful how much news you consume.
Ask and receive the wise, loving words of friends. It's amazing how someone can say just the right thing that magically calms your system and restores hope.
Listen to music that opens your heart. Example: I'm on my way to the grocery store and feeling sad and anxious about current events, so I play two of my favorite songs*. Halfway through the second song, the tears come. I park and sit in my car and listen. The love in the lyrics helps me cry in that good, let-it-all-go way. Five minutes later, inside the store, I see an old friend who has been on my mind lately, and we hug and stand and talk for a good, long time.
Finally, notice synchronicities (like the above) and other everyday miracles.
With love,
Elizabeth