Where to begin! We live in a strange world, at a strange time in our history. The world and its challenges are so much more complex than they use to be. We are creating a global society based on dramatic changes in access to travel, communication, healthcare, technology, and information.

For years I tried to keep up with current events, the news, and social change. I consumed information constantly and tried to put it into a context that made sense in my own daily life.

However, the more internally reflective my life has become (read… spiritually oriented), the harder it is for me to correlate and coalesce all the news, images and information that we are bombarded with daily. At least with how I experience it in my microcosm of the world.

We are exposed to content that is so dramatic, emotionally stimulating and draining (simultaneously!), and heavy at times. In fact a couple of years ago.., I stopped reading/watching the news for the most part. I read headlines and have conversations with people, but no longer devote a couple of hours a day to “being informed”.

I couldn’t. It always made me feel out-of-balance. Always on edge.., or in a state of fear/anxiety.

The other thing I noticed was, the more I paid attention to the idea of unity and oneness… the more the constant focus on duality in our daily lives really started to bother me. “Us against them”, right against left, Democrat versus Republican, rich against poor, White against Black, etc, etc.   It is downright uncomfortable. And yet it seems built into everything.

There are only two sides to a coin.., and each of us is expected to choose heads or tails! Right?

And yet I know and feel like we are changing! Humanity is on the verge of discovering new ways of being that are more harmonious and life sustaining. In someways, it seems esoteric and/or spiritual in nature. A sense more than something concrete I could point to…

This sense of a new way of being, is actually one of the ways I have, in my own way, perpetrated duality. Us against them! You see I have imagined that those of us who were taking this internal journey and attempting to anchor change in human consciousness, were doing what others weren’t of couldn’t. (Us against them).

But separation has been ingrained in us for centuries. We are all susceptible to hanging onto our own beliefs, outdated information, or buying into or rejecting the narrative of whatever story is trying to catch our attention.

In truth, our new world is emerging and we are all playing our part. We are all part of bringing Humanity to the next level. Not a final level.., but the next level.

Who knew I would find such comfort and eye-opening gratitude from a book called “Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – And Why Things are Better Than You Think”.

The view offered by looking at where we are, by understanding the data from our past, is comforting. The perspective that our personal authority, willingness, and desire really do have impact, does too. In fact the basic message of things can be “bad” and also “better” is helpful in so many ways. Such as allowing me breathe deeper.

This really has been inspiring for me. I imagine it will change how I view the news and information I am exposed to everyday. And maybe, just maybe…, I will truly drop the “us against them” duality model that is so harmful and never really worked anyway!

With Light, Love, and Laughter
Charles