Seeing The Whole

It is all such a jumble. What should I think and do about where the world is today?

Expanse

A lot is happening in our world. Change is all around us, in every aspect of our lives. It is essential that we realize this. On an emotional level, change often unsettles us, causing emotional ups and downs. We could be feeling anger or frustration. On a mental level, we could be experiencing anxiety or worry and overthinking things. Our mental constructs of the world could be shattering. Our mental and emotional states can then affect us physically.

Where in the past it worked for us to look at a smaller circle of our lives, the present calls for us to see the whole of what is happening. If we look at things in a piecemeal fashion, we may miss important aspects of our circumstances.

We live in a global society. We are dependent on many, unlike the past when small communities were dependent mainly on each other by necessity of distance and lack of the fast information flow and transportation we have today. What happens on the other side of the world can affect us, sometimes dramatically. To see our whole world, we must expand our view.

What’s Real?

Many of us feel a sense of unreality as things change around us. People are doing things that previously were unthinkable. Systems, values and ways of life that were solid in the past are faltering. In this blog, we often come back to the process of Chrysalis, because it fits. The caterpillar’s world is breaking down. There is chaos and what it is leading to (the butterfly) is unknown and unimaginable.

We experience the world through our individual senses, our experiences and what we hear from those around us. A lot of this is subjective. If we asked 5 people what is happening in our world today, we’d hear variety of perspectives. Some would be contradictory. Some are not in touch with reality. Some think we can find what’s real in our world by focusing on verified facts.

Why must we know what is real? We need to function in the world as it is. Calm and centering are even more important in challenging times. We need to be there for ourselves and our loved ones. We need to keep ourselves from breaking down. Knowing what’s real strengthens our foundation and allows us to proceed in a way that serves us.

Perspective

Sometimes it behooves us to step back and widen our perspectives. It will help us see the whole of what is happening. Our world is in flux. Things are flying around us and we can lose our perspective by reacting to whatever is happening and trying to cope, without looking at the bigger picture. This can be detrimental to our best interests.

Part of the seeing the whole now is recognizing the existence of uncertainty and how it is  affecting our level of comfort and sense of safety. Our perspective must acknowledge and make room for uncertainty. We cannot be certain in an uncertain world.  We must not maintain the illusion that we are in control. Sel-care is essential, as well as having a context that works for us regarding what is happening.

In challenging times, we can become myopic. We see only what is occurring right in front of us. Presently, a lot is coming up very fast to take our attention away from seeing the whole. We must step back and see the expanse of our lives and world. From that perspective, things will certainly look different. Some things may diminish in size and others become larger.