People often speak of 'comfort zones', but how comfortable are we really? Is it fair to keep calling it our 'comfort zone'? I would rather call it our 'familiarity zone' and most people refuse to change as it takes them outside of what is familiar to them, despite how uncomfortable they may be. Our goal is to expand our familiarity zone so that it is so large, we rarely experience something unfamiliar. In the process we will find change to be a comfortable process, which makes it much easier to embrace.
The hardest thing in life to do is to change. - Mickey Rourke
The comfort zone is a misnomer as most people are not really comfortable in their situation. Violence, abuse, poverty and all sorts of other uncomfortable situations makes our comfort zone decidedly uncomfortable. So why do people stay? Fear of the unknown, perhaps low self confidence, fear of loss, Stockholm syndrome? The reasons are vast and long. For me, I refused to change due to ignorance, lack of skills, knowledge and awareness. My conscious awareness was so poor that I had no clue that there were other ways to engage with people and even myself. My own ego said that I had to do it my way, no matter what other people said. That approach resulted in over 20 years of pain and suffering. Only when I hit rock bottom was I willing to surrender and try a different approach.
I was confronted with a choice, change or die. - White Walking Feather
The catalyst that I was confronted with was exceptionally scary, uncomfortable and dark. But I had to go there in order for my ego to surrender just so that I could learn a different way of living life and love. When I look out into the world I see a similar problem and while I hate to admit it, I see the world as having to hit rock bottom in order to surrender as well. The world needs a catalyst to shake our collective egos so that we can learn a new way of living with one another.
Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others. ― Jacob M. Braude
Call that process what you want, it will be a catalyst for change, it will be uncomfortable as hell, scary and dark. Some people have the conscious awareness to embrace that change without hitting bottom, but for most of us, the pain will flow as we all start to heal, learn and grow from the experience. Some will resist the change as the discomfort is too much for them to handle. But for those who have the courage to surrender their old ways and embrace a new way of life, it will be absolutely liberating as our conscious awareness levels up several times. We will all learn a lot from the process and that knowledge, wisdom and experience can then be passed onto the generations that follow to ensure it does not happen again.
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi
We are not going to do this by trying to change other people, rather we lead by example and influence the direction the change takes. We can also be the catalyst through peaceful confrontation. When we are a witness to violence of any sort, it is our duty to speak up and testify to what we witnessed. How many of us write letters to the Pope, Queen, Governor General, Lieutenant Governor, Prime Minister, Premier, local municipal leaders, government workers or even our neighbours? How many of us confront family and friends about their violence and call them out?
Our rhubarb surrendered to make seeds this year. Beautiful! It is in the flow!
This may be a stretch for some, but I really do think that the colonization process that we have all experienced has induced a degree of Stockholm syndrome on the masses. Stockholm syndrome is a condition that causes hostages to develop a psychological alliance with their captors as a survival strategy during captivity. As feudal serfs, everyone is a slave to their feudal master and people have all found ways to support the system to ensure their own survival. The peoples alliance with their feudal master is so strong, and they will attack anybody that threatens their captors or the system that they depend on for survival. It is not comfortable, but it is very familiar.
To describe the violence, abuse and slavery of their captivity results in rejection as this catalyst threatens what is familiar to them. Even revolutions fail because people rebel when life gets too uncomfortable. They win the rebellion and install the exact same system. Why? Because it is familiar. The burden of proof required to shake them from this condition is so immense that it would require a huge catalyst to trigger change in their hearts and minds.
But when we experience a spiritual awakening, things really start to change. That change is fast and can be very uncomfortable. However, if we take a leap of faith and trust in Spirit to guide us through these changes, we will find comfort, peace and awe in the process. We start to experience magic and miracles in our lives that were not there before. Change accelerates, but that is okay as we found a way to live within the flow rather than resisting it.
Modern society resists the natural flow of energy and life on this planet. We build technology to control everything. That control is an illusion and it will crumble before our eyes. But when we surrender to spirit and allow the coming catalysts to change our lives, we will surrender to the flow and ease our way through these changes so that we can not only survive but also thrive. This requires that we let go of the ego's desire to design and dictate how this will unfold. Instead, trust in Spirit to guide us through the coming changes.
Battle of Crecy (100 years war) - Froissart (1337-1410)
The world is going through a massive change. It will be ugly for a lot of people as they resist and fight that change. But if we surrender to it, learn, observe, experience and be at peace with it, we will inherit a whole new way of life. We each have a role to play as we are also catalysts for that change when we stand up and say NO to the violence.
Our familiarity zone will have been expanded and our comfort zone forgotten. We will take time to process this change as it will require processing on multiple levels; mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. I call this process a surrender. We will experience multiple surrenders through this time. Rather than surrendering to earthly masters, it is time to surrender to spirit instead, then watch change unfold in ways never seen before!
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"The world needs a catalyst to shake our collective egos so that we can learn a new way of living with one another."
Not only will this force us to live with each other (group identity is getting out of hand, and it's resulting in tribalism), but it will force us to return to the problem of meaning and where it lies. We will have to deal with our problems head on. These problems will slam us into the dirt so that we can spot where we erred in our thinking.
These transformations stem from deeper in the soul than most state-level revolutions. They must be more fundamental.
I love this post. I agree that growth often results from pain and suffering - how painful it's been to face my demons and recognise them, and know that they are a transformative tool for growth rather than hide from them or pretend they don't exist - that only makes them stronger. Pain is so transformative, and I think in that light pain becomes easier and such an important part of life's journey and growth cycles.
I loved your stockholm syndrome analogy too. we are all captive because it's so damn hard to fight and resist. it's interesting how revolution just creates the same situation again - orwell explored this of course in animal farm and his political musings.
when we see change as part of the day to day, minute to minute, moment to moment part of life then we can embrace it more fully within ourselves and in possibilities for the world. I am so resistant of 'tradition' i.e it's always been that way - because what if that way has not been successful? what kind of argument is tradition then? Why fall back on familiar when there is so much potential in the unknown, the things that make us uncomfortable? Ah... So much growing to do, us human beings... so much potential...
Great post. I see us becoming more spiritual and more powerful in our lives when we fully comprehend that change is what we are as human beings.
We think things are staying the same, but we experience change every moment of every day. When we embrace the breath-by-breath change, life can become a glorious journey of joyous expectation. We can wake up each morning with a sense of wonder at what new thing the day will hold for us. We can drop specific expectations of how things should be and stop trying to control every detail of life and 'go with the flow'.
This still means that we focus on our dreams and goals. It still means we have a passion and definite purpose in life. But the journey towards those things become so much richer, and the attainment of a goal can become that much sweeter, when we let things unfold as they should. Peace.
just Awesome..
Resteeming this because it resonates muchly and will come back tomorrow with a comment... bedtime here. 💚😉
That's well written. The world def needs a catalyst for change
Flower is Beautiful!