As Songbird navigates reopening, I have found myself drowning in a sea of differing beliefs about how to proceed. There are those who don’t want to go out until there is a vaccine, those who don’t think masks are necessary, and everyone in between. It’s hard to sort through the diverse information and figure out what makes sense.
I recently saw a post that linked to an article noting that the SIDS rate has dropped since the shelter in place. This sounds like great news. However, the article related it to a slowdown in vaccinations. This is only great news if you don’t believe we should be vaccinating.
There are many other positive side effects of the shelter in place that I have talked about in other blogs, including less pollution and a more relaxed lifestyle. Some people are happy for the break. Some are stressed. In general, there are more mental health issues than less, and probably more short term negatives than positives. At this point we don’t know whether there will be more long term positives or negatives. Each day we shelter in place brings awareness to new issues that we hadn’t been spending enough time thinking about. Each day brings us more opportunity to showcase the differing views that we all hold that we might not even have been aware of it. This is the first Toltec Mastery: The Mastery of Awareness.
The Mastery of Awareness is about realizing that each of us has our own view of the world and that we all see things differently. If we start trying to move out of the shelter in place before we have good awareness, we will end up drowning in the Sea of Unawareness, just like we were before. If we allow enough time for awareness to sink in, we can restart from a place of transformation. Once you gain awareness of the differing viewpoints, you can start letting go of judgment. You can accept that everyone has their own view of the world. You can look at the beliefs that make up your view and start shifting the ones that no longer serve you. One of the gifts of the shelter in place is that it is illuminating more and more issues that we might not have thought we could do anything about. It is showing us that perhaps it is possible to change. This is the Mastery of Transformation.
What do you believe about the world today? Do you believe in sheltering in place until we have a vaccine or do you believe in going out without a mask? Do you believe this is a big conspiracy? Do you think the emergency is made up? Do you think COVID is overblown, or do you think that people aren’t taking it seriously enough? Are you grateful for the three month break or angry at losing your job? Are you happy that the skies are bluer or mad that you can’t go out and do all the things you used to do? Are you upset at the increased suicide rate or grateful for the lower SIDS rate? Do Black Lives Matter or do All Lives Matter? Do you feel the need to argue your point with everyone else? What would it be like for you to accept everyone’s beliefs without judgment? Once you can let go of the charge, you can move into the Mastery of Love and Intent.
This is a place of loving what it is and taking action without seeing anything as good, bad, right, wrong, black or white. Everything just is. You can look at everything from the eagle’s eye perspective. The eagle flies above everything without judging it. Life is all about personal choice – either conscious or unconscious. You can choose to believe something without attachment. When you let go of attachment to your beliefs, you become free to create what you want in life from a place of happiness instead of a place of should’s and have to’s.
Songbird’s income is down. Some of our classes and services are staying on-line. Some are starting to reopen. Our store reopened Mother’s Day weekend, a month before it was legal. I trusted my judgment and didn’t forced any of the artists to help out unless they were ready. I am accepting everyone where they are regardless of whether they view things in the same way as I do. I am trusting that all is unfolding in the way it is meant to be. I love sharing information, but I don’t need to be right. I have my emotional breakdowns, and I don’t attach to them. I know that I will move through them just like everything else.
If you could use more support with this, come to one of our many offerings at Songbird including my weekly Toltec Recapitulation Breathing class that helps you release the energetic charge stored in your memories and beliefs. This allows you to accept everyone and everything just as it is. I am also having a class specifically on this topic on Sunday, June 28 at 3pm.
Jasmine Gold is the director of Songbird Community Healing Center, a Toltec Mentor, certified Four Agreements Facilitator, and Reiki Master. She has spent her life awakening to Spirit in an on-going dance of discovery. Her most profound shifts have been through the Toltec path and a three-year intensive Dreaming program with don Miguel Ruiz. She would love to help you live the life of your dreams.