After enjoying a perfectly blissful month on the West coast of California in the hip little town of Encinitas, I have now traveled to the plateaus of northern New Mexico in the Four Corners, where the temperatures are soaring into the 100's. Both destinations have their own magic and beauty, yet I realize the complete contrast between their climates and eco-systems. I am even feeling the complete contrast in my own body from living in the two opposite climes!
The mirror of change that these two places is offering me has been a profound realization.
As we all know, change is inevitable. How we accept it or deny it will create the climate of our life. On a larger scale, how the world accepts change will determine the ease (or difficulty) of how we all transition into the future. This has prompted me to title today's blog "Phoenix Rising", realizing that I am a microcosm of change, one cell in the Universal body, who is undergoing a constant series of deaths and rebirths, to become a more enlightened "me" from yesterday, last week, last year...and on. As with the change of one single cell, the whole organisim will change. We must ask ourselves, how do we want to change?
Wikipedia describes a phoenix as "
a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet (or purple, blue, and green according to some legends). It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again. The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (literally "sun-city" in Greek). It is said that the bird's cry is that of a beautiful song."
The Phoenix has long been presented as a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and renewal. The term has almost become cliche', but lets take a closer look to what it truly means for each of us. We are the phoenix who builds our nest, our Higher Self, through all our thoughts deeds, and experiences. Each time we experience change in a conscious way, we ignite and burn to ashes to become reborn like the phoenix. This is when we actually let go of our old selves in order to accept new concepts, create new traditions, experience new places, etc. You could say we are new and improved models of our old selves.
Knowing that we experience renewal on a regular basis should give us some peace of mind and hope, for if we are constantly renewing, that means the world is renewing. If the world is constantly renewing, then our planet and all those who inhabit it have the opportunity for a better existence. However, there is one very important key. Will we renew consciously to be reborn with greater compassion, more selflessness and caring for the whole of life, and less greed of money and power so that our world's Phoenix can rise out of the ashes of the nest it has created, to live again, this time in harmony, morality, and compassionate love? It starts with a single cell.
How do we want to change?
