Trust-building in times of chaos...
When everything is shifting and changing, when the world seems so chaotic, what does it mean to trust? Especially those who live in the shadows of inhaled and ongoing trauma, much of our energy can go towards isolating ourselves because we feel we can't trust anyone. Deep down we seek connection but it seems out of reach because the world and its people feel unsafe and unstable.
I have been studying peacebuilding, trust building, and conflict transformation for over a decade, and my thoughts continue to deepen as the conditions globally unravel.
I’m someone who likes certainty, stability, and predictability (any other Capricorns out there?), but staying grounded in these times is quite the challenge! As I learn how to let my feelings and emotions move through me without attaching myself to them, remembering I am not the feelings themselves but the one experiencing them, I begin to transform my thoughts, beliefs, and approaches to life. That’s the natural evolution of life, and I am grateful for the practice of surrender! I want this same experience for the people closest to me as well. This means that, ideally, my loved ones will be shifting, changing, transforming, and adapting just like I am. By the looks of the international media, this is a process happening across humanity.
So, where is the continuity I so deeply long for? Where can I place my trust when our identities, individually and collectively, are constantly evolving? Political assassinations are becoming commonplace, and worldly power structures are crumbling. My collective partnerships and projects, as well as my intimate relationships with loved ones, are all requiring more flexibility and pivots than ever before.
I think about the movie Sinners… one of the many potent themes was the perspective that our ancestors wait for us in the spirit realm after we die. That freedom isn’t in immortality on this physical plane (my interpretation), but in returning to where we came from, the spirit realm. Attachment to material power and gain will not save us in the end.
My faith tradition of Sikhi teaches us not to put our trust into humans because we are all inherently imperfect and will fall, make mistakes, and hurt one another.
The trust I seek isn’t in the material world but in the reminder of forces larger than me at play. It’s in the *natural mystic* in the air. The realm of energy and spirit that moves through our world. Learning to trust myself to show up in surrender, not abandon myself, but stay with myself throughout whatever I may be experiencing. Trusting in the forces of love and the timeless wisdom passed down through traditions across cultures and lands.
Maybe this realization can help us access the connection we long for so deeply. With grace and understanding of the nature of change in humanity. With deepening trust in ourselves to show up and navigate whatever situations arise in alignment with our highest selves. Honoring what shows up to be seen in life, and integrating it as necessary. Trusting in the unseen spiritual forces bending the universe towards justice. Not carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders alone but listening to the our deep longing for connection and continue showing up.
Gratitude for the remembering that sacredness surrounds us if we can just tune in. 🙏🏽🌸✨️