I can’t help thinking about the Occupy Wall Street protests that have spread across the globe. They are in the news constantly, mostly when there is violence or injuries against a particular gathering of protestors.
This movement feels like one of the most visible signs of something many of us have felt coming for a long time. Something that needs, wants and has to change for the sake of the planet and for all of us, whether we are willing to see that or not.
As I contemplate this, I realize that the biggest reason this is such an important stance for these people to make, is because they are primarily the young people in this country. They are dissatisfied with the energies of greed and waste. They want to shift the energies that direct so much of the wealth and resources (power) to the few and penalize the majority. They want change.
What they are doing feels chaotic and a bit unfocused. On the one hand, you could say this hurts their cause. It minimizes their impact. On the other, if this really is one of the seeds of long term change… maybe that is the way it is suppose to be. Many seeds when first planted and going through their germination and early growth stages are unrecognizable as the future garden or crop they will eventually become.
I think it is okay, that they don’t have a clear direction or focus yet. I think it is okay for them to simply be angry and hurt by the way corporations, governments and the brokers of wealth treat them as individuals. By gathering, talking, sharing, and being beacons of change for each other, they begin to form images of how the world might be different. They begin to see how we value and treat each other, can also change. It is through this imagining and envisioning that new ways of being are born.
I personally am not called to participate in protest, even though I respect the non-violent approach. What I am inspired to do, is send the energies of love and hope to young people across the planet, who are ready to birth a new future that has more respect and opportunity for all. I find that by simply witnessing their frustration and hunger for change, that it has me reflect on how I can do things differently. I think this is important, because, more than any other generation… The one that I belong to “the Baby Boomers”, has been the most self-centered. The “me first” generation. I can feel it in my own energetic bodies… Like it is part of my DNA. But, it is not!
I can actually shift out of this energy, and move towards one that is more harmonious and balanced. Please don’t take this to mean I fully understand this “Occupy” movement or even where it will go… However, if it gives enough of us pause and has us begin to look inside and see where we can make shifts and changes to become part of a new future that honors the planet and the individual. Then I am okay with “Occupy the World” being on my mind!