we need to talk about the evolution of consciousness
when humans fell from grace, something happened: something changed in our consciousness, a sort of “meta awareness” developed
this was, perhaps, the second evolution of human consciousness (whatever being “human” means anyway), coming after the first evolution where we developed a “we before me” attitude that separated us from our animal kin
we are approaching another shift in consciousness. not one of transcendence (as so many seem to hope), but one of awareness
and things are looking positive for our perspective, if not for the planet
it would appear that we are remembering the morality (not a great word, but an passable one for now) that evolved in us into the species we are today, the one with opposable thumbs — i.e. flexible egos
as we remember “we before me” consciousness and our interdepenent place in the web of all things, we bring with us the fall from grace
we bring with us the realization that we are in bodies, that we have selves, and that we are in choice as to how we interact with, manipulate, and use the tools of / on earth
taken in october 2019 in front of a wildfire in los angeles, california, the sign i am holding in this photo has an hourglass symbol, representing the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion
the hourglass—two triangles meeting at their apex inside of a circle—suggests many things
one of the meanings the hourglass offers is the notion that we are locked into a chronology; another is that time is linear and can “run out”
time, however, we now understand to be part of the fabric of “space time,” which is a human-specific interface. as real as the persepective of the hourglass may seem, space time is, in fact, unique to the human headset and not a fundamental reality
the hourglass represents the problem with climate activism and why it has failed to usurp colonial-capitalist forces. it represents an ideology that fails to see the bigger picture, as it continues to push the mythology that “nature” is something separate from the “human”
as we fall back into grace, we meet an unravelling of deeply held beliefs. this is not comfortable or easy
as kahlil gibran said, pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding
the way forward is one found through grief, through meeting our pain and letting it move through us without attaching stories or judgement. indeed, the way forward is not forward. nor is it backward or down or up or any direction at all
the way forward is a release and a relaxation into something old and something incredibly new
there is no climate. there is only us, our shadows, and the systems at play. may we soften into this place together: dreaming of a better world and remembering that there is no world except the one inside of us
Previously: We Need to Talk About the Evolution of Consciousness
