If anything became apparent to me during 2020, it was the sheer dependency the vast majority of human beings have on their physical world. To most this will appear an odd thing to write, of course we depend on our physical world, it’s well, the world. But this superficial understanding of what it means to live and truly thrive, or merely survive, is part of the fallout I witnessed so clearly. I hadn’t realised before, the full extent to which members of society will follow each other over cliff edges, both emotionally and mentally, whilst doing next to zero independent work on validating who is leading the march. Sure, I’ve seen this kind of herd mentality in films. I’ve read about it in history books, but never have I experienced it so up-close and personal.
So, what did I see? I saw what anyone, not mired in their own fears, saw. As things and places of familiarity were gradually removed, I saw the true dependency humans have on the world outside of themselves; more specifically, the world that can be seen, touched, or heard by the regular five senses. Repeatedly, intuition was trumped by instinct and inner voices drowned out by external noise. Distractions that people had become consumed by were peeled away one by one, only to reveal the marriages that should have ended decades ago, personal traumas swept under rugs and fake friendships tolerated only for reasons of convenience. I saw how the removal of retail therapy as a substitute for real healing, and the lack of wraparound childcare for parents to remotely continue doing jobs they detest, caused people to crumble. And it wasn’t the falling apart that surprised me, it was the inability of people to see that their issues were about more than what mainstream media was pumping out.
What was largely missing, if you did not know where to look, was a very particular and separate experience of reality. One that is found in the between realms of this surface obsessed life, that most humans have accepted as a totality. It lives in the experiences that flow freely through the form and the formless world; the pockets of non-physicality that for thousands of years people have used in various ways, to actively and successfully reclaim their internal power. Finding and cultivating an experience of this inner world, this otherness, leads to a life of such high frequency, that in 2020 most of the world missed it. They missed it even as they lived with, or walked amongst, people actively experimenting with it.
Humanity has been schooled by such carefully orchestrated industries to believe that the key to happiness, success and now even its very survival, is utterly dependant on the external. It has become conditioned to rely wholeheartedly on the facets of life which can be seen, measured, monetised, marketed and sold. The power of autonomy and independent thought is increasingly difficult to locate, and in a modern crowd the very concept of personal sovereignty has become illusive. Think, or heaven-forbid act, in a way that is different to the herd and the sheep you offend suddenly believe themselves to be wolves. Successfully seek solace, healing or peace within your own mind or body, and you don’t quite understand or appreciate what is really occurring in the world. Dare to believe that good health begins within the body and need not be outsourced like everything else, then you are quite frankly, away with the fairies.
Somewhere on this path, the majority of the human population has been persuaded to believe that personal sovereignty is a short stroll from a most dangerous and infectious form of madness.
But what if it’s not? What if stepping into that internal power which has been systematically stripped from you, is in fact your answer not to returning to normal, but rather becoming extraordinary? Humans have arrived at a phase in history where the collective status of victim is accepted. Turn on the TV, or the Internet and watch the koolaid being glugged down because well, everyone else is drinking it. But what if there are groups of people out here, who have looked the other way and found a personal strength beyond the likes of anything you will ever find externally? What would you say, if you were introduced to a new collective who understand that the reality in which you live, the physical dimension on which so much of your energy is spent, is merely a response to other dormant aspects of yourself, yet to awaken? Spend some time with these people and your reliance on purely the physical world may drastically change.
This is not to say that change is easy, or that the path to true internal power is any less exhausting than another, only that the quality of the experience is cleaner. It is cleaner because the dirt you deal with is your own, the fears you deal with are your own, the thoughts you process are your own. There is no safety in numbers because you are the root of your own experience, you are no longer the blank slate onto which others project what they want you to feel and believe. This is not about ignoring the reality that you witness in front of you, it is about recognising that you have a hand in its creation, and therefore more choices than you likely ever thought possible.
It’s only once you have eyes to see this life, that you can fully appreciate it and the people involved with it. It’s only then that you can recognise its possibilities, anywhere and everywhere that you are. It’s almost as satisfying as learning to distinguish between what’s being fed to quiet you, and what’s being fed to nurture you. Or, what is being presented to distract, instead of inform you. A connection to this internal power, where the physical world is a tool and not the machine itself, is a glimpse into the true nature of being. It is better than any movie you weren’t able to see and most importantly, there is no one able to take it from you, quite so easily.
So, where do you go from here? Well, that depends on whether this article triggered you, made you curious, or both. If it simply triggered you, there are a number of solutions you may, or may not, eventually come to. If it made you curious, use this as an opportunity to make that first connection with your inner compass, then the next step is obvious.