IMMENSE EVENTS

Whoa, the ground beneath my feet has shifted dramatically. What do I do now with this change?

Immense Events

Individually and collectively, we periodically experience immense events. Individually, it may be the birth of a child, moving to a new country, retirement, school graduation or receiving a windfall of money or happiness. Collectively, it may be an event that brings a country together in happiness or tragedy, a natural disaster, a collectively shared experience or a significant change felt by all.

Here in the United States, our recent election is an immense event both for individual citizens and for the country as a whole. We have a new President-elect. From his first term, we know his policies and how he has governed. Power has shifted in our Congress. The immensity of the event lies in the extreme polarity our country has been experiencing. Roughly, half of those who voted are very happy and the other half are very disappointed.

The contrast on election night as the results came in, were so far apart. Rooms of people were elated and celebrating, while others were quiet and mournful. Immense events are not uniformly experienced. They are called such because of the effect they have on us. They are vast, significant, usually have great scope, are felt by many and are huge in size and extent. They make their mark on us.

The Openings They Offer

Immense events usually create huge Openings, just by the nature of their size. They are disruptive. They bring change that we welcome, or that we do not. Sometimes we are able to anticipate them and other times they come by surprise. Sometimes they elate us, and other times shake us to our very core. They are impossible to ignore. We can’t miss them. They make their presence known and demand our attention.

The Openings created by immense events offer us significant choices. Will we enter them kicking and screaming or enter them willingly, in our power? The thing is that we can’t go back to what was. The Opening is before us and our choice lies in how we enter, rather than if we enter. Collective Openings, experienced by all, give us company and sometimes support in our choices. We may gather with others to understand the Opening before us. Individual Openings  can be more daunting, as the choice is ours alone.

The US election has brought a huge Opening. We are facing the Opening collectively and there is no going back. It is almost an explosion – freeing for some and restricting for others. We face questions regarding this Opening. What does this mean for our country, do we like what we see or fear it, how will we respond to the change it will bring? The nature of the Opening differs depending on how we view the election results.

Regaining Center

Right after an immense event, we may be shaky. If its effects are here to stay, we must face them. Before we act in relation to the Opening, we need to regain our center. The center has moved. It could take time. Much has changed and we may have been changed significantly by the event. How do we see our lives now? How do we view the event? Are we ready to embrace the Opening or are we repelled by it?

We look at regaining center a lot in this Blog. In our center, we are at the height of our strength and innate wisdom. We are balanced. Immense events ask us to be at our best. They shake us up, change our perspectives and throw us on a new road. There is no place to hide from them. We are forced to face the Opening before us.

In the US election, many are facing a huge Opening. Huge in the sense that our lives will change. Some welcome the new leadership and the changes they will bring. Their grievances have been huge and they want relief. For others, this is an unwelcome change. They are not sure how it will change their world and they are fearful. Some feel defeated and do not know what to do.